NIFA is recruiting industry representatives (growers, packers, shippers, staff from organizations that represent specialty crops, etc.) to review pre-applications for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) for 2025. This is an opportunity for commodity sectors to make sure that SCRI projects are tackling a critical need for the sector. The time commitment for a relevancy reviewer is about 15-20 hours total, spread over 2 months (January-February). For more information, see our SCRI Relevance Review website.
This year, the review panels will take place for about 1.5 hours during the week of February 3rd.
If you are interested:
Complete this scheduling poll noting that you’re available to review and indicating your area of expertise: https://forms.office.com/g/9Y2mRdmibV
Create or update your account on our Peer Review System (PRS) at https://prs.nifa.usda.gov/
If you are a new reviewer or your information has changed since you last reviewed, please email the SCRI team at sm.nifa.scri@usda.gov with your name, email, phone number, employer and address.
Reviewers can receive an honorarium of $265 for completing their reviews and attending the panel and an extra $265 for completing the reviewer training.
If you have any questions about the role and duties of industry relevance reviewers, please reach out to the SCRI Relevance Review Panel Manger, Kay Rentzel (ksrentzel@aol.com)
Please note: Academic scientists and USDA employees are ineligible to serve as relevance reviewers (Extension agents are okay).