Annual Retreat
The 2022 GGA Retreat
The first annual GGA retreat will be held on Friday, August 26, 2022 at Hunt Library on NC State’s Centennial Campus. The Annual Retreat welcomes new graduate students and new faculty, highlights the research of GGA laboratories and Research Interest Groups, and features discussions about GGS graduate student recruitment and admission strategies.
Date: August 26, 2022
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rob Dunn, Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs and William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University
Location Address: Duke Energy Hall, Hunt Library
Registration: Link
ZOOM Registration: The Zoom link will be emailed to all registered attendees.
Schedule of Events: See below!
Questions? Please contact Dr. Jeff Yoder with any questions: jayoder@ncsu.edu
Schedule of Events
08:30 AM | Coffee and light breakfast. Poster and vendor set up. |
09:00 AM | Opening Remarks, Welcome, and Updates Opening remarks by Fred Gould, GGA Executive Director Welcome – Provost Arden, Dean McGahan, Dean Dole, Dean Meurs Updates from the GGA Executive Committee: > Introduce New Faculty > The four major objectives of the GGA > GG Scholars Program—overview and new student introductions > Reformulation of Research Interest Groups (RIGs) through interactive activities > Interface with the PDU > Seminar Series > Genetics & Functional Genomics Merger > Discussion |
10:30 AM | Coffee Break & Posters |
11:00 AM | Keynote Speaker: Dr. Rob Dunn, Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs, and William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Applied Ecology, NC State University The Future of Interdisciplinarity at NC State, from Sourdough Bread to Earth’s Wicked Problems |
12:00 PM | Provided Lunch & Posters |
01:30 PM | Science Talks: Session 1 |
03:00 PM | Coffee Break & Posters |
03:30 PM | Science Talks: Session 2 |
04:45 PM | GGA Contest Winners Announced & GGA Paper of the Year Presentation |
05:05 PM | Closing Remarks & Poster Awards |

Profile: Keynote Speaker – Dr. Rob Dunn
Dr. Dunn is the Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs at NC State. In the context of this job he is working to lead and launch interdisciplinary programs at NC State and also to make it easier for faculty, postdocs and students who want to work across disciplines to do so in ways that have a great impact on society. Dr. Dunn is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist whose work focuses on the biology of the everyday. He aims to apply general concepts and theory from ecology and evolutionary biology to biological realms that have been relatively ignored. Often, this work is done with large collaborative teams.
2022 Retreat Sponsors:

Past Retreats
2021 Retreat
Date: August 20, 2021
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gene Robinson, Professor of Entomology and Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Location Address: James B. Hunt Library, Duke Energy Hall CD (and streamed via Zoom)
Registration: CLOSED. Registration is FREE.
Schedule and Full Retreat Program can be viewed below.
Full retreat program: View program
Schedule of Events
09:00 AM Opening Remarks, Welcome, and Updates from the GGI Executive Committee
Opening remarks by Dr. Fred Gould
Welcome – Vice Provost Larick, Dean McGahan, ADR Lommel, & ADR Meurs
Updates from the GGI Executive Committee
– Seminar Series
– RIGs
– New Faculty
– GG Scholars Program (Cohort, Curriculum, & Recruiting)
– Genetics & Functional Genomics Merger
– Initiative vs. Academy
– Discussion
10:30 AM Coffee Break: Posters & Vendors
11:00 AM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gene Robinson
“Sociogenomics: The Molecular Biology that Links Nature and Nurture”
12:00 PM Lunch Break: Posters & Vendors
01:30 PM Science Talks: Session 1
03:00 PM Break: Posters & Vendors
03:30 PM Science Talks: Session 2
04:45 PM GGI paper of the Year Presentation
05:05 PM Poster awards announced and Closing remarks
2020 Retreat Sponsors:
2020 Retreat
Date: August 29, 2020
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gregory Wray, Professor of Biology and Director of the Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology, Duke University
Location Address: Zoom
Registration: CLOSED. Registration is FREE.
Schedule and Full Retreat Program can be viewed below.
Full retreat program: View program
Schedule of Events
09:00 AM Opening Remarks, Welcome, and Updates from the GGI Executive Committee
– Seminar Series
– GGI Contest Winners
– Research Interest Groups (RIGs)
– New Faculty
– GG Scholars Program (Cohort, Curriculum, & Recruiting)
– Director Search
– Discussion
10:30 AM Break & Sponsor Meetings
11:00 AM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Gregory Wray
“No Gene Is An Island: The Evolutionary Causes and Consequences of Gene Interactions”
12:00 PM Lunch Break & Sponsor Meetings
01:00 PM External Sponsor Presentations
01:15 PM Science Talks: Session 1
02:30 PM Break & Sponsor Meetings
03:00 PM Internal Sponsor Presentations
03:15 PM Science Talks: Session 2
04:15 PM GGI paper of the Year Presentation
05:00 PM Adjourn
2020 Retreat Sponsors:
2019 Retreat
Date: August 19, 2019
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Frances Ligler, Lampe Distinguished professor of Biomedical Engineering, NCSU
Location Address: 2450 Alumni Drive, Raleigh, NC 27606. Parking is FREE.
Registration Deadline: Friday August 9, 2019 (CLOSED).
Registration: Registration includes breakfast, buffet lunch, refreshments, and coffee breaks. Registration is FREE.
Schedule and Full Retreat Program can be viewed below.
Full retreat program: View program
Schedule of Events
08:30 AM Registration and Breakfast
09:00 AM Welcome and Updates: The Future of GGI
– Seminar Series
– Research Interest Groups (RIGs)
– GGI Graduate Training Program and Curriculum
– And more!
10:30 AM Coffee Break
11:00 AM Keynote Speaker: Dr. Frances Ligler
“On being a Gemini: Combining science and engineering to help people”
12:00 PM Lunch Buffet and Poster Presentations
01:30 PM Science Talks: Session 1
03:00 PM Coffee Break and Poster Presentations
03:30 PM Science Talks: Session 2
05:00 PM Adjourn