Successful Networking to Create International Collaborations in the Rosaceae Community

Academic scientists are trained to run individual programs, yet collaborative projects can leverage program specialties and funding strategies to further research objectives. Effective networking can lead to global collaborations that accelerate progress towards solving critical agricultural issues like pest and disease management and plant breeding. Many of the skills necessary for effective networking are rooted in personal relationships and building trust within a community. In the Rosaceae community, a U.S.-led effort that began as a group of scientists seeking to implement current technology to make breeding programs more efficient succeeded in securing funding of the RosBREED project by the USDA-NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative. In the project’s first five years, a global network of scientists developed tools and infrastructure to enhance resource allocations in Rosaceae breeding programs. This collaboration has grown considerably, with a second project, RosBREED: Combining Disease Resistance and Horticultural Quality, focused on using those tools and infrastructure to address global issues in disease resistance and horticultural quality in rosaceous crops.