Scientists, researchers, peanut industry leaders to gather at HudsonAlpha

HUNTSVILLE – For the first since 2019, participants in the Advances in Arachis through
Genomics and Biotechnology will hold their conference in-person when the HudsonAlpha
Institute for Biotechnology hosts this year’s event.

The world’s top researchers, scientists and peanut industry leaders will come together today through Wednesday at HudsonAlpha’s campus in Cummings Research Park. HudsonAlpha is hosting the conference for the first time.

“We are excited to host AAGB at HudsonAlpha this year,” HudsonAlpha Faculty Investigator Dr. Josh Clevenger said in a press release. “We’re working to use the power of genomics to improve the world, and are privileged to host world-renowned researchers, scientists and students in the place that delivered the final cultivated peanut genome assembly, HudsonAlpha.”

Young scientists, graduate students and postdocs will join the 2 1/2-day conference to discuss ideas, expand their networks and discuss the latest trends in the global peanut
community.

“The AAGB meeting is a conduit for the international community of peanut scientists and
stakeholders to come together and share knowledge, collaborate, and forge partnerships that will write the future of food security for this important, nutritious crop, that so many across the globe rely on,” Clevenger said.

According to the release, the “international peanut research community has traveled the globe since the first International Peanut Conference was held in China in 2006, with the goal of tackling the most important and complex problems facing peanut production: food safety and security, drought and heat stress, and aflatoxin contamination.

“This year’s conference has a focus on sustainability. In that vein, attendees will be encouraged to download an online application that contains the information that is normally in the program booklet. That includes the conference schedule, research abstracts, keynote speaker details and more. The online application was exclusively created by HudsonAlpha employees for the purpose of conference sustainability.”

Mayor Tommy Battle mentioned the conference Wednesday during a luncheon to kick off his 2024 re-election campaign. While going over a list of successes during his current term, he added that news of the coming event as an example of highlights that have helped land the city on 60-something “best of’’ lists since 2020.

Attracting the peanut industry is among the things that “validates what we’ve been doing,” Battle said.