Generation Challenge Programme

First, an exclusive for breeders: our Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) crew has been beavering away, and is pleased to announce that version 3 of the Breeding Management System is out, with enhanced features and functionality (more – IBP website).

This one's for everyone, breeders and all interested in agriculture and crop science. At GCP, plans are in high gear for an alcohol-free agricultural version of Oktoberfest this month.

To give you a peek into our plans, first up is our final General Research Meeting (GRM) which opens tomorrow, 7^th October, and runs to 10^th October. GRM updates and reporting will be primarily via IBP, as IBP and the future are the main focus of this year's meeting.

The week following the GRM will be a busy, fruitful and festive one, with three international days relevant to agriculture lined up back-to-back during this UN International Year of Family Farming:

• International Day of Rural Women on October 15^th;
• World Food Day on October 16^th: Theme –  Family farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth; and,
• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17^th: Theme – Leave no one behind: think, decide and act together against extreme poverty.

In the runup to these international days and what the Unted Nations has dubbed the World Food Week, we'll be posting relevant microblogs on our Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Storify accounts. Then, towards the end of the month on October 23^rd, our plan is to put a special sparkle in your day with a very fitting finale to Oktoberfest. More on that autumn surprise later (hint: D is divine).

Meanwhile, let the October festivities begin, starting with GRM  on the morrow!

A selection of GCP’s bubbliest blogposts has been repackaged for print, with a limited edition exclusively available for participants at our upcoming General Research Meeting early next month. Sneak preview

We are delighted to introduce Eloise Phipps (pictured) who has joined our communications team.

Eloise is a familiar face to some of you, as she has previously worked with our Host Centre, CIMMYT, in the same field. Eloise will, in part, be stepping into the very large pair of shoes left behind by Gillian Summers, our previous Communications Assistant. So as we said our final ¡Adios! to Gillian on her last day with us yesterday, we also hollered a happy ¡Hola, Eloise!

In addition to writing and storytelling, Eloise's particular passion is photography, and she's a  'super snappa'. See a sample of her skills in this snap right on page 1 in our hot-off-the-press publication on cereals. In the past, she's been part of of CIMMYT's formidable force on Flickr, managing their online image collections. Among other tasks, she also wrote, edited and proofread feature stories on CIMMYT’s scientific research and impacts, engaging directly with scientists and field partners to prepare public awareness messages. Prior to CIMMYT, Eloise held various positions in her native UK, as well as in The Seychelles. She holds an MPhil in Environment and Development, and a BA in Natural Sciences (specialising in ecology), both from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Given her background and flair for communications, we have every confidence that Eloise will ably fill Gillian's large shoes.

Please join us in giving her a rousing welcome to GCP, and in wishing her well as she helps us complete the final critical lap in GCP communications, ahead of our closure in December.

	Gillian doing one of the things she does best, in this snapshot from the poster session at the 2013 GRM. More details on this sparkling snapshot!

Earlier this month, staff at GCP Headquarters at El Batán, Texcoco, Mexico, bid a fond farewell (despedida) to Gillian Summers (see some of it in pictures). Gillian will be leaving GCP at the end of this month for the University of Greenwich’s Natural Resources Institute (NRI) in her native UK, where she will be Communications Specialist: higher heights, professionally.

Our longest-serving Communications Assistant, Gillian joined GCP in May 2010, bringing much verve, sparkle, wit and art to our communications – a natural offshoot of her sunny and bubbly personality. She was an active member of the core team that redesigned the GCP website, whose revamped version was launched in mid-2012. She takes the lead in writing GCP News, our electronic newsletter, and has been the coordinator, animator and MC of the poster sessions at our last two General Research Meetings (GRMs), first in 2011 and again in 2013  (photo and story).

We will sorely miss Gillian, but we’re sure our paths will continually cross since she continues to be in communications, with a bent to science for development. But above all, we wish her the very best in her future endeavours, and we thank her for four years of faithful and devoted service to the GCP community.

Adios (or, more likely, hasta luego?), and fare thee well, Gillian! NRI and the UK are lucky to have you!