Pulled from a comment on this petition written by Dr. Nathan Upham, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at ASU: "Plant genomics is an extremely important area of research, particularly in a drylands state like Arizona that would benefit from increased knowledge of plant biodiversity for use in medicinal and agricultural studies. Plant genomics is also highly fundable -- e.g., the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship has an entire track dedicated to Plant Genomes research (see https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/postdoctoral-research-fellowships-biology-prfb/nsf23-620/solicitation and there is also an entire NSF Plant Genome Research Program of $30M annually (https://new.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/plant-genome-research-program-pgrp/nsf23-559/solicitation I encourage the SOLS leadership to act quickly to fill this gap in expertise."

This comment includes important information not covered in the original petition description. Thank you all for your support!