Appendix E: Education and Training Gaps

  • We need to promote the training of students and postdocs in disciplines that support an increased understanding of phytobiomes and their optimization in interdisciplinary research. This includes developing a workforce that nimbly integrates knowledge spanning from ‘-omics tools, bioinformatics, data analysis, multi-scale modeling, and network analyses to plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, and agronomy.
  • We need to promote broad training of students and postdocs, including training in the field, to prepare them for industry jobs that will arise from sustainable exploitation of crop, forage, and forest phytobiomes.
  • We need to promote community education, appreciation, and public support for generating and translating phytobiome knowledge for societal benefits. New science needs to be communicated to the public early and accurately.