New leadership announced for USDA ARS Barley Crop Germplasm Committee
Dr. Brigid Meints, an organic barley breeder and small grains extension specialist at Oregon State University, has accepted the role as chair of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Barley Crop Germplasm Committee (Barley CGC). Meints, who focuses her research on multi-use naked barley for organic systems, is an established researcher within the barley community, who is fortunate to have her leadership. She was recently awarded a $3.5 million grant through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) to support her work . The Barley CGC is a group of stakeholders that serves as subject matter experts to guide exploration, curation, and characterization of a specific crop’s germplasm. Barley is one of 44 crops that the USDA-ARS tracks through their Germplasm Resources Information Network. Responsibilities of the group are wide-ranging, but one of the most notable tasks is the regular update to the Crop Vulnerability Statement (CVS), which assesses the crop’s vulnerability to specific threats and the adequacy of the germplasm base. The reports inform appropriate governmental and private agencies of the needs for broadening and strengthening each base via additional exploration, collection, acquisition of private collections, and evaluation. Dr. Meints assumed leadership of the Barley CGC from Dr. Do Mornhinweg, research geneticist for USDA-ARS based in Stillwater at the Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Station. Do served in the chair role for over twenty years and most recently shepherded the CVS revision over to Meints who is working on getting it finalized and published. The entire barley community is grateful for Do’s leadership over the years. Please reach out to Brigid if you have any questions about the Barley CGC. In her role, she will also be coordinating USDA-ARS Plant Exploration and Germplasm Exchange Proposals and will be seeking germplasm success story submissions to illustrate and reinforce the importance of this work.
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