Speakers

	Prof Jacqueline Batley Jacqueline is an ARC Future Fellow at the University of Western Australia. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Bristol UK in 2001. She moved to Australia in 2002, as a senior research scientist at DPI-Victoria, then led a research group at the University of Queensland as an ARC QEII Research Fellow, from 2007-2014. Jacqui has received several awards for her research including a University of Queensland Foundation Research Excellence Award, an ARC QEII Fellowship and an ARC Future Fellowship. Jacqueline has expertise in the field of plant molecular biology, genetics and genomics, gained from working in both industry and academia. Her areas of interest include genetic and genomics analysis and specifically, genome sequence analysis and the development of molecular genetic marker systems for applications such as genetic diversity, genetic mapping, LD and comparative genomic studies and the molecular characterisation of agronomic traits. She is currently focussing on blackleg resistance in Brassicas.
	Dr. Richard Spelman Richard is a Quantitative Geneticist who has concentrated his research in the area of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), gene discovery and marker assisted selection. Richard has led the research work on Genomic Selection and overseen the changes in LIC’s breeding scheme with the integration of this new technology. Qualifications: Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons); Masters of Agricultural Science (Hons) at Massey University. PhD at Wageningen University (The Netherlands)
	Dr. Qingmei Guan Qingmei is a professor at the Northwest A&F University, China. She received her Ph.D and Postdoc training from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is leading a research group at the Northwest A&F University as a full-time professor. Her research interests include molecular mechanisms of plant responses to abiotic stress (extreme temperatures and drought stress), molecular marker-assisted apple breeding at whole-genome level with stress- resistant traits.
	Juliet Gerrard Professor Juliet Gerrard is Professor in the School of Biological Sciences and School of Chemical Sciences at The University of Auckland. Juliet has more than 125 publications, as well as three books. She is an active member of three of New Zealand’s Centres of Research Excellence, as a Principal Investigator in both the MacDiarmid and Riddet Institutes and an Associate Investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre. Juliet was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in2012; she is also Chair of the RSNZ Marsden Fund Council and a Board of Directors for Plant & Food Research,