Update:
This past year the UMN Soybean Research Center continued to be a central point of contact for researchers on campus that work on soybeans. We held a few information and networking events. Last summer, we organized and held a tour of soybean agriculture-related stops in greater MN. This activity is described in detail in the quarter 1 report. We have good attendance -- 20 student and postdoctoral research associates -- who learned more about how soybeans are grown and where they go for processing (https://soybeanresearchcenter.umn.edu/students-gain-first-hand-soybean-industry-perspective). Secondly, we held a research networking event on campus in November. We invited in speakers from Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, United Soybean Board, and North Central Soybean Research Program. The speakers spoke to the audience of 40-50 people on opportunities and priorities in soybean research. There was also a poster session where UMN researchers shared their work with one another. In the spring, we held another networking event for soybean researchers attended by faculty, staff, and students. This was particularly important to staff and students since many of them work on soybean research but in different departments. Just having these events to help people get to know one another is extremely helpful for creating a soybean community on campus. We have developed our website and posted some stories there. We are in the process of recruiting a project/communications specialist with hopes of expanding communications and being more consistent. Finally, we created a promotional flyer and are in the process of soliciting funds from private donors.
Overall vision
Elevate public research on soybeans to enhance the efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of Minnesota soybean agriculture.
Goals
1. Provide the opportunity for creation of synergy among all soybean researchers across academic disciplines.
2. Enhance communication and coordination of UMN soybean research activities through a better and more sustained and coordinated presence on the web, social media, and press releases.
3. Attract new researchers to soybean from a broad array of departments that do not traditionally work on agricultural commodities such as soybean.
We continued the momentum of the center this past year and are poised to grow it in the future.
This past year the UMN Soybean Research Center continued to be a central point of contact for researchers on campus that work on soybeans. We held a few information and networking events. Last summer, we organized and held a tour of soybean agriculture-related stops in greater MN. This activity is described in detail in the quarter 1 report. We have good attendance -- 20 student and postdoctoral research associates -- who learned more about how soybeans are grown and where they go for processing (https://soybeanresearchcenter.umn.edu/students-gain-first-hand-soybean-industry-perspective). Secondly, we held a research networking event on campus in November. We invited in speakers from Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, United Soybean Board, and North Central Soybean Research Program. The speakers spoke to the audience of 40-50 people on opportunities and priorities in soybean research. There was also a poster session where UMN researchers shared their work with one another. In the spring, we held another networking event for soybean researchers attended by faculty, staff, and students. This was particularly important to staff and students since many of them work on soybean research but in different departments. Just having these events to help people get to know one another is extremely helpful for creating a soybean community on campus. We have developed our website and posted some stories there. We are in the process of recruiting a project/communications specialist with hopes of expanding communications and being more consistent. Finally, we created a promotional flyer and are in the process of soliciting funds from private donors.