Since 2012, university graduate students have held an annual Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) to provide networking, training, and career development opportunities for the next generation of organic seed scientists and professionals. The Organic Seed Alliance utilized this OREI conference grant to expand the scope of SOSS to engage a greater diversity of participants, reach a wider audience, and build a lasting network of students, academics, farmers, and seed professionals committed to strengthening the organic seed system.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the conference for a year, in July 2022, a SOSS conference was held at West Virginia University (WVU). The 62 participants included 24 students, seven WVU professors, and 31 others including breeders, researchers, industry professionals, and farmers. The event included presentations on the latest organic plant breeding and seed production research and discussions to identify plant breeding priorities.