ISPP
President: Professor M Lodovica GullinoAGROINNOVA, Center of Competence for the Innovation in the Agro-environmental Field, University of Torino Via Leonardo da Vinci, 44 Grugliasco,(TO), Italy.
Tel: +39-011-6708539; Fax: +39-011-6709307
E-mail:
Immediate Past President Dr Richard E Falloon
New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research
Private Bag 4704
Christchurch, New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 325 6400
E-mail:
Vice President: Dr Wafa Khoury
Plant Production & Protection Division (AGP)
FAO, Rome, Italy (Room B734)
Tel: +39 (0)6 57054588
E-mail:
Vice President Professor You-Liang Peng
Department of Plant Pathology
China Agricultural University
Beijing 100094, China
Tel: +86 10 62733607
E-mail:
Secretary-General Dr Greg Johnson
Horticulture 4 Development
PO Box 412, Jamison ACT 2614
Australia
Tel: +61 2 62 51 56 58
E-mail:
Treasurer Professor Thomas A. Evans
Department of Plant and
Soil Sciences, University of Delaware,
152 Townsend Hall
Newark, DE 19717, USA
Tel: +1 302 831-1066
E-mail:
Task Force on Global Food Security
Dr Peter R Scott
CAB International
Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE, UK
Tel: +44 1491 832111
E-mail:
Business Manager Dr Peter Williamson
PO Box 4674
Toowoomba East
Queensland 4350
Australia
Ph: + 61408745196; Fax: + 61 746378326
E-mail:
Editor, ISPP Newsletter Professor Brian Deverall
Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Building A04
University of Sydney NSW 2006, Australia
Ph: +61-2-9351-2531
E-mail:
Editor-in-Chief, Food Security
Professor Richard Strange
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences,
Birkbeck College, University of London,
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
Tel: +44(0)20 7631 6232; Fax: +44 (0)20 7631 6246
E-mail: / Dear colleagues,
I would first like to wish you all a peaceful and fruitful 2009.
Within ISPP, one of my responsibilities as Vice President is to co-ordinate and promote the Subject Matter Committees (SMCs) of ISPP, which aim at further enhancing interaction between the plant pathologists all over the world. (See http://www.isppweb.org/about_subject.asp )
Firstly, I am extremely thankful to Drs Wenhua Tang, Brian Deverall, Greg Johnson and other colleagues who have been very helpful in keeping some correspondence and contact with you during the hand-over from the previous Executive. I would also like to thank those SMC chairs and members who have been very active in the past and are still retaining their enthusiasm and thrust.
In fact, the SMCs constitute one of the most important activities of ISPP. They form a most important network for inter-society activities, and open up new opportunities for scientific, professional and personal interaction and for enhancing international cooperation. The SMCs also remain important channels for conducting many of the functions of the Society between successive ISPP congresses (ICPPs). ISPP accordingly has and continues to give priority to provide the support needed to keep these SMC active and flourishing.
Although this may not be news to many of you, we would like to share with you some information that may help you as Chairs of the SMCs improve and expand your work within your respective groups:
1. Chairs and Vice chairs:
Each SMC has a Chair and Vice-Chair that have been appointed by ISPP or elected by its members[1]. For efficient communications, it is very important that you inform us immediately of the coordinates and contacts of the present Chair and Vice Chair and any information about turn-overs in membership and election of new SMC chairs and the respective changes in their contacts.
The above information should be communicated directly to Dr Peter Williamson (ISPP Business Manager), copied to me, Dr Wenhua Tang (ex Vice President and coordinator of the SMCs), Prof Brian Deverall (ISPP Newsletter editor), and Greg Johnson (Secretary General). The Business Manager will then ensure that the information is updated and directly posted in the ISPP website and SMC page.
The ISPP Statutes and Rules of Procedure related to the operation of the ISPP working groups are indicated in the box below, for your information:
/ International Society for Plant Pathology
ISPP
/ International Society for Plant PathologyISPP
2. Webpage and newsletter
The professional improvements undertaken on the ISPP Webpage by Dr Peter Williamson, ISPP Business Manager are highly commended. The special webpage of the SMCs and IWGs provides a great opportunity to enhance the interaction between the SMC members and between the different SMCs in ISPP.
You are highly encouraged to keep this webpage up-to-date and informative. Please do provide the Business Manager with any information that you think is needed and of interest to the others, including the names and contacts of the SMC members, the activities undertaken or planned by the SMC, the reports developed, special websites linked to your SMC or IWG, and any other information and news you may think is interesting. Other forms of electronic technologies including but not limited to mailing lists, forums and discussions could also be established on the ISPP website for the SMCs. Please make sure you contact the ISPP Business Manager to discuss potential opportunities and to provide him with ideas for improvements.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the SMC chairs and members that have been active in providing information to the SMC webpage and in developing their own websites. We would encourage each of you to check these web pages on the ISPP website and we site for example the following:
· Taxonomy of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria http://www.isppweb.org/about_tppb.asp
· Teaching http://www.ispp-teaching-symposium-2006.org/,
· Plant Virus Epidemiology http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/.
The ISPP Newsletter also posted electronically on the ISPP website, provides another excellent opportunity for information sharing and interaction between ISPP members within and between SMCs and IWGs. You are highly encouraged to contact Prof Brian Deverall, Editor of the ISPP newsletter for any information that you would like to post and to provide him with your ideas for improvements.
3. Publicizing and Reporting
Chairs of SMCs are asked to regularly report to the EC members on their activities. We would appreciate receiving reports whenever you have news of interest or when they are requested by the ISPP Secretariat or EC. Reports should be sent to the ISPP Business Manager who will share it with the rest of the Secretariat and EC, to be added to the SMC webpage.
A five year report will also be requested before each ICPP to be discussed during the ISPP Council meeting (ISPP Rule 12 e).
4. Memberships
Chairs of the SMCs are highly encouraged to expand the membership of their groups and ensure that new active members are joining their teams. The Business manager and I will be more than happy to discuss with you and jointly work with you in finding ways of motivating members to join, and stay active in the group.
We welcome suggestions and are ready to discuss with you the options of creating new SMCs or merging existing ones and developing joint activities between the various SMCs.
5. Support to meetings between International Conferences
The issue of the support of ISPP to the meetings of its Subject Matter Committees was discussed during the last Council meeting. Meetings of the SMCs organised between the ICPP are highly welcomed and recommended by the Council. It was agreed that financial support for the organisation of such meetings would be possible but it would be strictly on the basis of loans provided on full-cost recovery basis.
We will be glad to discuss with you any planned meeting or other initiatives. ISPP can help publicise your activities through the ISPP Newsletter and mailing lists. We would be happy to provide any advice related to linkages and coordination with other potential SMCs meetings or regional conferences planned to get the best benefit out of your planned events.
/ International Society for Plant PathologyISPP
6. Contributions of ideas to the coming congresses
Since you are the specialists in your subject matter and know best critical arising issues that need to be discussed and included in the ICPPs, we will need your ideas and inputs on the topics to be included in the coming ICPP.
Since the programme of the ICPPs are usually planned a couple of years ahead of the congress, we encourage you to discuss potential topics in your SMC meetings and correspondences and present your ideas to the ICPP Organising Committee directly.
7. Attendance at the ICPP Council meetings
During the last Council meeting in held with the ICPP in Torino, August 2009, it has been unanimously agreed that the SMCs chairs will be invited as observers to the meetings of ISPP Council held during the ICPP.
8. ISPP Journal Food Security
The first issue of Food Security, the new journal published as an initiative between ISPP and Springer will appear in March 2009. A special subscription rate if €30 is available to members if ISPP Associated Societies. And the first issue will be open access – please take the time to visit the Journal website http://www.springer.com/life+sci/agriculture/journal/12571 and let your colleagues know about it.
We welcome you all to share with us your inputs and suggestions. In case you know of fellow chairs that have not been copied on this mail for any reason, please inform us so that we can update our contact list and keep them informed of any new developments.
Finally, I would like to thank you for your commitment and support, and I am sure that together we could continue making the collaboration between plant pathologists all over the world a fruitful and pleasurable experience.
Looking forward to work with you all,
Best regards
Wafa El Khoury
Vice President
ISPP
Rome, February 2009
2
[1] (From draft minutes ISPP Council Meeting 2008: Motion: The ISPP Council endorsed the composition of the Executive Committee for 2008-2013 supported by the Secretariat. Council endorsed delegation to the Executive the responsibilities for
· Appointments within the Secretariat, and for filling any casual vacancies that may occur on the Executive prior to the 5-yearly election of the new Executives of ISPP, and.
· Co-ordination of Subject Matter Committees (SMC) and changes to SMC membership