A group of African early career researchers feature in a new short film about vector-borne plant viruses that devastate crops in Sub-Saharan African countries.
The seven-minute film focuses on the ground-breaking Virus-Vector Vice-Versa training course for early career researchers, run by the CONNECTED Network, which took place at The University of Bristol, UK, in summer 2019.
A group of early career researchers from 11 African countries took up fully-funded places at the course. The film features interviews with delegates discussing:
- what they learned on the course
- how they will use their new skills and knowledge, and
- the value to them of the collaborative CONNECTED network.
There are also clips from interviews with:
- Prof. Nicola Spence, Defra, UK (Chair of the CONNECTED Management Board)
- Prof. Gary Foster, University of Bristol (CONNECTED Network Director)
- Prof. Susan Seal, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich (CONNECTED Management Board member).
In the film Prof. Foster says: “CONNECTED is sowing the seeds of a new generation of collaborators, whose work will transform African agriculture for the next 20 to 30 years.”