2013

2013/11/19～11/22

DT11 (San Antonio, Texas)

- Program and Welcome Message (pdf)

- Proceedings (Journal of Arid Land Studies 24(1) 2014)

: All the accepted papers with Welcome Address are downloadable in PDF.

Welcome to Texas and DT 11

Tim D. Davis, Conference Chair

Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture & Department of Horticultural Sciences Texas A&M University

Over two years have passed since the last DT conference (DT 10) was held in Narita, Japan. The last DT conference to be held in the U.S. was in Reno, Nevada back in 1999. As Conference Chair, I am pleased to welcome participants to DT 11. San Antonio was chosen as the site for DT 11 because it is a city that warmly welcomes guests and is located in an area where water is a major issue. The state of Texas has 11 ecological zones, all of which face serious issues related to water. A significant portion of west Texas is occupied by the vast Chihuahuan Desert. Drought conditions are common and expected in this region, but many other portions of the state face serious challenges related to water and aridity. Indeed, much of the state has been in the grips of severe drought for the past several years. Hence many of the papers that will be presented at this conference are of direct relevance to the host state.

This conference will have about 100 participants with authors/co-authors of papers representing 28 countries. There will be about 65 oral papers and 35-40 poster papers presented during the 2 ½ day conference. This meeting will include a significant number of first-time DT conference participants.

We hope this venue will allow for the renewing of old friendships and the fostering of new professional relationships.

I express sincere appreciation to our conference sponsors: Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, Texas A&M University; Dryland Systems Research Program, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research; Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University System. We also gratefully acknowledge the Japanese Association for Arid Land Studies who is the founding sponsor of the DT conferences. Indeed, Japanese scientists and leaders have been critical to the success of these conferences since their inception. Appreciation is also expressed to our International Advisory Board members who provided valuable direction and suggestions regarding the conference. This group also serves as members of the Editorial Board for papers submitted to the Journal of Arid Land Studies. I am also grateful for the Local Organizing Committee members who

provided support and suggestions regarding conference logistics. Several members of this Committee also serve on our Editorial Board.

Special appreciation is expressed to Valerie Weber, our Conference Coordinator. She and her staff at Texas A&M AgriLife Conference Services have done an excellent job handling venue selection, registration, and many other details related to the conference.

The proceedings of this conference will be published as a special issue of the Journal of Arid Land Studies. Each manuscript is being peer-reviewed by at least two persons. We thank the many reviewers who are helping with the review process.

Best wishes for an enjoyable and productive conference. Welcome to San Antonio, Texas!