A fresh look at graduate education in Plant Pathology in a changing world: global needs and perspectives
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A fresh look at graduate education in Plant Pathology in a changing world: global needs and perspectives Jacqueline Fletcher 1 James P. Stack 6,7
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Abraham Gamliel 2 & Maria Lodovica Gullino 3 & Simon J. McKirdy 4 & Grant R. Smith 5 &
Received: 1 December 2019 / Accepted: 28 January 2020 # Società Italiana di Patologia Vegetale (S.I.Pa.V.) 2020
Abstract Among the many responsibilities of the worldwide scientific community are advancing the knowledge base that underpins each scientific discipline, addressing the pressing scientific issues of the day (e.g., emerging infectious diseases, food security, and climate change), and perhaps most importantly, educating and training subsequent generations of scientists. Yet, around the globe, advances in scientific and communications technology, proliferation and mining of data, and increasing financial constraints of university systems have led to fundamental changes in our institutions of higher learning. Increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving in agriculture add to the complexity of providing robust preparation for the plant pathologists of the future. Thus, as the U.N. recognizes the year 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health, it is fair to ask if current approaches to graduate education in plant pathology are adequate to meet current and anticipated challenges and if the outcomes can be improved. Keywords Plant pathology graduate education . Interdisciplinary . Multi-disciplinary . Science vs. technology . Critical thinking
Introduction Although the United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health the practice of plant pathology emerged in its earliest and simplest forms during the Neolithic era (7000–10,000 years ago) as humans
* Jacqueline Fletcher [email protected] 1
National Institute for Microbial Forensics & Food and Agricultural Biosecurity, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA
2
Laboratory for Pest Management Research, Institute of Agricultural Engineering ARO, The Volcani Center, Rishon LeZion, Israel
3
AGROINNOVA, Università degli Studi di Torino, Grugliasco, Italy
4
Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, Australia
5
The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Lincoln, New Zealand
6
Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
7
https://www.npdn.org/home
began to stabilize their lives and secure their food sources by the cultivation, domestication and improvement of native plants. In that era practices to maintain plant health were developed by trial and error and passed to the next generation by word of mouth. Since then, plant pathology has evolved in step with the expansion and increasing sophistication of agricultural production and interest in the well-being of the natural environment. More formalized attention to plant pathology education, too, has evolved, involving different approaches in differ
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