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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 8:06 AM<br>To: Jesse Curlee<br>Subject: ICAC Press Release: MASTER IN PLANT BREEDING<br><br>From the Secretariat For Release July 19, 2012<br><br>Masters in Plant Breeding<br><br>The Texas A&M University is offering a distance degree in plant breeding starting Spring Semester 2013. Students can receive a M.S. in Plant Breeding without residence on campus at College Station. The program covers both a thesis option (TO) and a non-thesis option (NTO). All requirements for this degree are the same as those found in the Graduate Catalog at <a href="http://catalog.tamu.edu/,http:/soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduatedegrees.html%3chttp:/catalog.tamu.edu/,http:/soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduatedegrees.html%3e" target="_blank">http://catalog.tamu.edu/,http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduatedegrees.html<http://catalog.tamu.edu/,http:/soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduatedegrees.html></a>, with the exception that the on-campus residence requirement is waived.<br><br>The unique requirement to obtain the M.S. in Plant Breeding TO is that there must be a Ph.D. scientist at the student's location who can qualify for membership in the Graduate Faculty at Texas A&M University and serve as co-chair of the student's graduate advisory committee. The student also must have access to research facilities and have a commitment by his/her employer to provide such facilities for the conduct of original plant breeding research.<br><br>All courses and requirements other than physical presence on campus at Texas A&M University are the same as for on-campus students. All courses are the same as those taken by on-campus students and are taught by the same professors, but delivered via the internet.<br><br>Dr. Wayne Smith, a renowned cotton researcher, has been in the forefront to acquire approval for this program. Dr. Smith has released unique upland cotton germplasm expressing resistance to silverleaf whitefly, cotton fleahopper, and root-knot nematode; germplasm lines with improved fiber quality, especially fiber length and fiber bundle strength; yield potential; and variants in morphology and phenology.<br><br>This is an excellent opportunity for cotton researchers with B.S. (Agri) degrees to improve their qualifications. Cotton researchers can contact Dr. Wayne Smith at ? to discuss the application process. Online application is available at (<a href="http://ogs.tamu.edu/prospective-students/admissions/applying-to-graduate-" target="_blank">http://ogs.tamu.edu/prospective-students/admissions/applying-to-graduate-</a> schoo/). Full details of the program can be downloaded from <a href="http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduateprogram.html" target="_blank">http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/graduateprogram.html</a><br><br><br clear=all><br>-- <br><span style='font-size:7.5pt'>---------------------------------<br>A. Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold<br>School of Plant Sciences<br>The University of Arizona<br>Tucson, AZ 85721<br><br><a href="http://arnoldlab.net" target="_blank">http://arnoldlab.net</a><br><a href="mailto:arnold@ag.arizona.edu" target="_blank">arnold@ag.arizona.edu</a></span><br><br><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>