Dear Rosaceae colleagues,

I am forwarding a note from Dr. Susan Brown at Cornell about forming four sub-committees that was discussed in Rosaceae community meeting held at IFTA conference in Hershey, PA.

Team Members Needed for Planning:

There are four general theme areas of research in the Rosaceae white

paper (indicated in bold text below) and we are forming four sub committees for planning purposes. Anyone with an interest in one or more of these topics, and a willingness to participate in some pre-organization work for strategic planning are encouraged to contact the scientific coordinator for each group at the Email addresses below. Please do not reply to the list serve. We would appreciate a response by March 10th. Identifying those in each core area interested in participating in the discussion will facilitate future strategic planning. The Committee is charged with figuring out how such strategic planning will happen and how it will be structured. The entire Rosaceae community will participate in the strategic planning, but this committee sets the framework.

Reducing the dependence on chemical pesticides by improving biological

resistance: Herb Aldwinckle at hsa1@cornell.edu.

Reducing labor costs (Plant architecture): Susan Brown at skb3@cornell.edu.

Improving fresh and processed fruit quality, storage and safety: Abhaya

Dandekar at amdandekar@ucdavis.edu.

Improving profitability of the Rosaceae fruit industry (abiotic stress tolerance): Michael Wisniewski at mwisniew@afrs.ars.usda.gov.