May 19 - Wednesday 7-9 pm: Opening Reception (Iowa Hall, Macbride Hall Natural History Museum)

May 20: Thursday AM - Session 1 (8:45 am - 12:30 pm)
Continental breakfast (7:30 - 8:30, Chicago Lobby)
Welcoming remarks: D. Bhattacharya and Dean Linda Maxson (8:30 - 8:45)
Broad Area: Technical and Ethical Issues of Genomics Research
Keynote speaker (8:45 - 9:30 am): M. Bento Soares - EST Approaches in Genomics Research (Illinois, Rm 348 IMU)
Special talk on cloning difficult genomes (9:45 - 10:00) Ron Godiska (Lucigen)
Coffee break, Chicago Lobby (10:00 - 10:15)
Discussion topics in the breakout groups (10:15 - 12:00)
1. How to prepare for a genomics project with a non-model protist - funding sources, preliminary data, genomic, and
bioinformatic support.
2. ESTs vs. draft vs. complete genome sequences - which is best suited for different protists?
3. Ethical issues - when and how should protist genomic data be released?
General meeting to prioritize recommendations (12:00 - 12:30, Illinois)

Lunch: 12:30 - 1:30 (South, Rm 179)

Thursday PM - Session 2 (1:30 pm - 5:00 pm)
Broad Area: Protist Genomics and the Tree of Life
Keynote speaker (1:30 - 2:30 pm): Sandra Baldauf - Protist Diversity and the Tree of Life (Illinois, Rm 348 IMU)
Coffee break, Chicago Lobby (2:30 - 2:45)
Discussion topics in the breakout groups (2:45 - 4:30)
1. Identifying what we know and don't know about the eukaryotic Tree of Life.
2. Accounting for undescribed protistan biodiversity - how do we do genomics with picophytoplankton and
other uncultured(able) taxa.
3. Endosymbiotic and lateral gene transfer - confusion in the Tree of Life?
General meeting to prioritize recommendations (4:30 - 5:00, Illinois)

Banquet: 6:30 - 9:00 pm (”Taste on Melrose”, Transportation provided)
Meet at Iowa House Lobby at 6:00 pm.

May 21: Friday AM - Session 3 (8:30 am - 11:45 am)
Continental breakfast (7:30 - 8:30, Chicago Lobby)
Broad Area: Protist Genomics-Understanding Protist Biology and Choosing Target Taxa
Keynote speaker (8:30 - 9:15 am): Jane Carlton - Complete Genome Sequencing Approaches (Illinois, Rm 348 IMU)
Special talk on the Canadian PEP Program (9:15 - 9:20) Russ Watkins (Dalhousie University)
Coffee break, Chicago Lobby (9:20 - 9:30)
Discussion topics in the breakout groups (9:30 - 11:00)
1. Metagenomics - challenges and pitfalls in trying to account for the total biology of ecosystems.
2. Functional genomics - is it possible to do this with protists?
3. Identifying the key protist groups for a genomics approach.
General meeting to prioritize recommendations (11:15 - 11:45, Illinois)

Lunch: 11:45 - 12:30 (Box lunch in Chicago Lobby)

Friday PM - Session 4 (12:30 pm - 3:30 pm)
Broad Area: Synthesis and Outreach
Special talk on text mining applications in biology (12:30 - 12:45) Marc Light (Library Sciences, UI) (Illinois, Rm 348 IMU)
Discussion topics in the breakout groups (12:45 - 2:00)
1. Genomics and phylogenetics - can we create a unified tree and a single database?
2. Genomics and the species concept - can genomic data help us refine and redefine taxonomy?
3. Bringing protist genomics to the public - challenges and opportunities.
General meeting to prioritize recommendations (2:00 - 2:30, Illinois)

SUMMARY AND SYNTHESIS: Short presentation by workshop organizers (2:30 - 3:00, Illinois)

Transportation to airport: meet at Iowa House lobby (time to be arranged)