The International Phytobiomes Alliance appoints Angela Sessitsch to the Board of Directors together with Emmanuelle Maguin, Research Director at INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. Sessitsch has been a member of the Alliance Coordinating Committee since 2018. She was selected for the Board of Directors for her leadership in advancing the field of microbiomes and crops and, in particular, for her experience in coordinating multi-national and EU activities in the agricultural microbiome space.
Angela Sessitsch, Head of Competence Unit Bioresources at the AIT Austrian institute of Technology, is an internationally recognized expert on beneficial plant-microbe interactions and established this research area at AIT. Her know-how encompasses the understanding the ecology and functioning of plant microbiomes, molecular approaches to explore their potential and exploring plant beneficial microorganisms for agricultural applications.
“It is a great honor to join the Board of the Phytobiomes Alliance. The Alliance is an important network for phytobiomes research and innovation, enabling smart agriculture at a global level and connecting major players of academia and industry,” said Sessitsch. “I look forward to supporting the Alliance to achieve its goals and to work towards phytobiomes-supported agricultural systems in the coming years.”
Sessitsch has coordinated various national and international projects, such as the recently launched EU-financed Coordination and Support Action “MicrobiomeSupport”, which aims at supporting international microbiome research and innovation in the food system. She also coordinates the EU-financed project MicroMetabolite, which elaborates methods to make use of microbiota to modulate secondary metabolite production in medicinal plants; she also acts as workpackage leader in the EU projects SolACE (Solutions for improving Agroecosystem and Crop Efficiency for water and nutrient use) and MASTER (Microbiome Applications for Sustainable food systems through Technologies and EnteRprise). Angela Sessitsch is the main organizer of the international symposium miCROPe – Microbe-assisted crop production – opportunities, challenges and needs, which took place in 2015 and 2017 in Vienna, Austria. This event will be again held in December 2019, expecting around 350 participants from all over the world.
International Phytobiomes Alliance
Launched in 2016, the non-profit International Phytobiomes Alliance facilitates and coordinates international efforts toward expanding phytobiomes research in order to accelerate the sustainable production of food, feed, and fiber for food security. The Board of Directors is in charge of setting the overall vision and mission of the Alliance and provides general oversight for the Alliance operations. Maguin and Sessitsch will join the current Board members, Gwyn Beattie (Iowa State University), Natalie Breakfield (Newleaf Symbiotics), Kellye Eversole, Magalie Guilhabert (Bayer CropScience), Jan Leach (Colorado State University) and Matthew Ryan (CABI) for a three-year term.