Educational Strategies for Training the Elite 21st Century Plant Breeder.

Training traditional plant breeders in the “genomics era” is challenging due to funding constraints for applied research and limited opportunities for students to acquire field breeding experience.  Advances in our understanding of genetic mechanisms and genomic applications involved in crop improvement are expanding at a rapid rate, and today’s plant breeders must have a working knowledge of all aspects of plant genetics, molecular and applied, to capitalize on opportunities to make rapid gains from selection.  In addition to transmission genetics, breeding methodologies, experimental design, quantitative genetics, and selection theory, the 21^st century plant breeder must be well versed in molecular genetics, genomics and biotechnology.  Acquiring competencies in knowledge, comprehension and application skills across this diverse array of expertise is attainable through traditional instructional delivery approaches.  However, essential integration skills, including the ability to analyze a plant breeding problem, the ability to synthesize an approach for solving that problem, and the ability to create an assessment plan for evaluating the effectiveness of this approach, are most effectively taught by immersing students in transformation learning opportunities in real world scenarios.   Although funding availability, time demands and proximity issues often hinder access, several venues for exposing students to these types of learning opportunities are available including participation in case-study assessment, international exchange programs, multi-disciplinary, multi-location grant sponsored research, industry sponsored fellowships or internships and job shadowing.  To ensure success, the 21^st century plant breeder also must develop effective interpersonal communication skills in order to effectively facilitate and lead research efforts aimed at solving multidisciplinary problems with peers from the private and public sectors, stake holders, producers, and government personnel from worldwide agencies.