Program: The one-day workshop featured keynote presentations, lightening talks and small-group sessions. The program was catered for those interested in learning about agricultural microbiomes, new to the research and those actively working in the field.
The focus of the talks and discussion sessions was: a) the current status of agricultural microbiome research; b) progress in agricultural microbiome databases, metadata and technical information; c) identifying gaps in technical, analytical and education resources; d) developing, leveraging and coordinating collaborative efforts to advance agricultural microbiome science through training, databases, community building, platform development etc and e) developing draft strategies for advancing agricultural microbiome research and applications.
Participants: The workshop brought together plant pathologists, microbial ecologists, bioinformaticians, endophyte and rhizosphere researchers, mycologists, and agricultural/soil scientists. They had the opportunity to learn about what is currently happening within the exciting field of agricultural microbiome research, and where future developments in the science will occur, in addition to network with new and old colleagues.