Conference Schedule (subject to change)

19th Biennial Conference on Molecular & Cellular Biology of the Soybean
July 23-25, 2025

Wednesday July 23

11:00 am: Registration Check-In Desk Open
Location: 2nd floor of Memorial Union (across from Main Lounge)

11:00am – 4:00pm: Poster Display Room Open
Location: Tripp Commons (2nd floor, east end of Memorial Union)
Please have posters up prior to 4:00

12:30pm – 2:15pm: Tour of Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center
Front of Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.
Arrive and load by 12:25, the bus leaves from Memorial Union
Pre-registration is required
Bus returns to Union by 3:00pm

4:00pm – 6:00pm: Session I – Conference Opening Session – Great Hall (4th floor of Memorial Union)
Session Chair: Andrew Bent
4:00pm     Welcome and Key Information – Andrew Bent (organizer)
4:05pm     Jianxin Ma
4:30pm     Ron Mittler
4:55pm     Aamir Khan
5:20pm     Keynote Talk – Tom Clemente

6:00pm – 9:00pm: Poster Gathering
Tripp Commons and Deck (2nd floor, east end of Memorial Union)
Authors stand at posters
6:20pm – 7:00pm (even numbered posters)
7:30pm – 8:10pm, (odd numbered posters)
Open Bar (Beer/Wine/Sodas) 6:00 – 9:00
Drinks and light snacks until 7:00
Casual dinner will be served starting at 7:00, after first wave of poster viewing
Soybean Serenade: 8:15

Thursday July 24

7:30 am: Registration Check-In Desk Open
2nd floor of Memorial Union (across from Main Lounge)

8:30am – 10:00am: Session II – Approaches – Great Hall
Session Chair: Michelle Graham
8:30am     Bob Schmitz
8:55am     Marc Libault
9:20am     Soyoung Jung
9:40am     Dounya Knizia
10:00am   Soybean Decadal Vision (SoyGEC/Bob Stupar)

10:15am – 10:45am: Coffee Break

10:45am – 12:00pm: Session III – Genotype-Phenotype Mechanisms – Great Hall
Session Chair: Gunvant Patil
10:45am   Wolfgang Busch
11:10am   Young Cho
11:30am   Marlies Wouters
11:50am   Nathan Hancock

12:10pm – 1:30pm: Lunch & Poster Session – Provided by Soy2025

Tripp Commons/Profile Room, Deck and Main Lounge (2nd floor, east end of Memorial Union)
Authors stand at posters
12:45pm – 1:05pm (First letter of First name A-L)
1:05pm – 1:25pm, (First letter of First name M-Z)

1:30pm – 3:00pm: Session IV – Plant-Microbe Interactions I – Great Hall
Session Chair: Asela Wijeratne
1:30pm     Xuelu Wang
1:55pm     Gary Stacey
2:20pm     Di Wu
2:40pm     Sushil Chhapekar
3:00pm – 3:30pm: Coffee Break

3:30pm – 5:00pm: Session V – New Technologies – Great Hall
Session Chair: Wayne Parrott
3:30pm     Yan Li
3:55pm     Ray Collier
4:15pm     Hyeon-Je Cho
4:35pm     Kristin Bilyeu

5:10pm – 5:50pm: Session VI – Early-career DeepStrike Lightning Talks
Great Hall (4th Floor of Memorial Union)
Six 5-minute talks by poster presenters
With light-hearted judging by the audience via phone app!

6:00pm: Dinner – On your Own
There are many food options at Memorial Union, and many options within a brief walk on/around State Street and the Capitol Square.

7:00pm – 12:00am: Music on the Union Terrace
Memorial Union Terrace (back side of building)
Open to the public
Beverages, food, ice cream for sale
Main band: Northern Comfort (traditional country and bluegrass music)

 Friday July 25

8:30am – 10:15am: Session VI – Plant-Microbe Interactions II – Great Hall
Session Chair: Adam Steinbrenner
8:30am     Melissa Mitchum
8:55am     Yulin Du
9:15am     Kyung Do Kim
9:35am     Steve Whitham
9:55am     Ambika Pokhrel

10:15am – 10:45am: Coffee Break

10:45am – 12:00pm: Session VII – Genetics/Genomics – Great Hall
Session Chair: Jianxin Ma
10:45am   Bob Stupar
11:10am   Matt Hudson
11:30am   Khalid Meksem
11:50am   Jacqueline Campbell

12:10 – 1:30pm Lunch & Posters – Provided by Soy2025
Tripp Commons/Profile Room, Deck and Main Lounge (2nd floor, east end of Memorial Union)
Including: Careers Mentor Lunch Tables for early-career scientists

Posters – open time for viewing 12:40pm – 1:20pm (Tripp Commons)
1:20pm – 2:45pm: Poster Take Down – Do not remove posters until 1:20pm
Please make sure your posters are removed by 2:45pm

1:30pm – 3:00pm: Session VIII – Abiotic Stress – Great Hall
Session Chair: Bing (Minviluz) Stacey
1:30pm     Jamie O’Rourke
1:55pm     Lisa Ainsworth
2:20pm     Leonidas D’agostino
2:40pm     Madan Bhattacharyya
3:00 – 3:30: Coffee Break

3:30pm – 5:00pm: Session IX – Agronomic Traits – Great Hall
Session Chair: Andrew Scaboo
3:30pm     Qingxin Song
3:55pm     Kyujung Van
4:15pm     Bahram Samanfar
4:35pm     Leah McHale

5:00pm – 6:45pm: Free Time – On Your Own
Suggestions/Options:
20 min. stroll up State Street to the spectacular Wisconsin State Capital (very much worth seeing the inside for 15-20 minutes, closes at 6:00)
Stroll along Lakeshore Path immediately west of Memorial Union, and/or over Bascom Hill and Observatory Hill on campus (great views)
Relax lakeside on the Terrace (at Memorial Union)
Rest and recharge in your room

6:45pm: Conference Banquet

Tripp Commons (2nd floor, east end of Memorial Union)
Don’t miss out on this primary event of the SoyMCB biennial meeting. Attendance at the banquet is typically close to 100%
Casual Attire

Banquet is included in registration cost.