Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Plant genome outreach programs increasingly play an important role in providing opportunities for the community at large to participate more fully in the latest developments in plant genomics. In particular, the National Science Foundation (NSF; http: //www. nsf. gov/) strongly encourages outreach programs to promote teaching, training, and learning and to broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (based on e. g. gender, ethnicity, disability, or geographic location). As a consequence, there are now many types of outreach resources and opportunities available, including tutorials, demonstrations, work-shops, professional development opportunities, internships, and research or educational collaborations. As more plant genome research outreach resources become available, efficient methods for finding the right resources to suit a particular individual's needs must be created. For example, a high school teacher might need to find tutorials on bioinformatics appropriate for classroom use in grades 10 through 12. An undergraduate student could be looking for summer internships that provide experience in plant genomics. In addition, the student might wish to locate programs that particularly encourage participation by members of underrepresented groups that offer specific assistance. A member of congress could be looking for nontechnical descriptions of current federally funded research projects on particular crop species. An aspiring principal investigator on an NSF Plant Genome Research Program (http: //www. nsf. gov/bio/dbi/dbiₚgr. htm) grant application might want to review outreach success stories for guidance in fulfilling the NSF merit review criterion addressing the broader impacts of the proposed activity.
Baran et al. (2004) studied this question.