Raymond F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding

Professional Plant Breeding Lectures

A PDF of the schedule can be found here.

 

November 18, 2009

Dr. Michael Martin

Redesigning a crop species: The hybrid canola story

2050 Agronomy Hall

4:10 PM

Michael Martin is Director of Specialty Crop Breeding for Monsanto.  This includes spring and winter Canola, Sugarcane, Sorghum, and Wheat.  He was the Director of Corn Breeding for Monsanto’s license customers prior to his current role.  Prior to coming to Monsanto, Michael held various positions at Garst, ICI, Zeneca and Advanta seeds including Director of R & D (1990-1996) of North America and Global Corn Lead (1996-1999) which included responsibilities for Breeding, Applied Bioscience, IP and Production.  He holds a BS in Agronomy from Alabama A&M University and MS and PhD degrees in Plant Breeding and Cytogenetics from Iowa State University. He has spent his entire career in the private sector, including five years operating his own consulting and contract research business.

December 2, 2009

Dr. Lizhi Wang

An operations research approach to a plant breeding problem

2050 Agronomy Hall

4:10 PM

Lizhi Wang is an assistant professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Iowa State University. He also has a courtesy joint appointment with Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined Iowa State in 2007, prior to which, he received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include optimization and its applications in power systems and plant breeding problems.

December 9, 2009

Dr. Jason Gillman

Marker-assisted soybean breeding: Pushing the envelope or tilting at windmills?

3140 Agronomy Hall

4:10 PM

Dr. Gillman is part of the research team of the USDA-ARS at the Univ. of Missouri - Columbia that has discovered the DNA sequence of major genes in soybean that control seed composition for fatty acids, lipoxygenase, and phytate.   As part of their pioneering research, they have developed protocols for direct markers that are valuable for selection in a cultivar development program. 

Dr. Gillman received his BS degree in botany and biochemistry from Colorado State University and his PhD in molecular biology and genetics from Cornell University.  He has been part of the USDA-ARS plant genetics unit at the Univ. of Missouri - Columbia since 2008.   His role in the unit has been to apply his molecular biology and biochemistry background to interpret and apply the newly available genomic information towards gene discovery and marker development, as well as developing novel value-added soybean germplasm.

 

Previous Lectures in this Series

Monday, November 2, 2009

Dr. Bruno Studer

Genotyping by high resolution melting — Practical applications

3140 Agronomy Hall

10:00 AM

Dr. Bruno Studer is a project scientist with the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Århus in Denmark.

 

Monday, November 2, 2009

Dr. Torben Asp

Development and application of molecular genetic methods in ryegrass for improved forage and turf breeding

3140 Agronomy Hall

4:10 PM

Dr. Torben Asp is a senior scientist with the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Århus in Denmark.

 

November 9, 2009

Dr. Toshihiko Yamada

Miscanthus genetic resources and its potential as an energy crop

3140 Agronomy Hall

8:00 AM

Dr. Toshihiko Yamada is a Professor at Hokkaido University in Japan and a researcher within the Hokudai Network for Global Sustainability. His research focuses on breeding Miscanthus sinensis and cover crops.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Dr. Christian Jung

Flowering time control and application in plant breeding

3140 Agronomy Hall

10 AM

Dr. Christian Jung is professor in plant breeding and the Director of the Plant Breeding Institute at the University of Kiel in Germany. His research has included breeding for nematode resistance in sugar beets and investigating the interaction between wheat and rye genomes in triticale. In 2005, he received the Leibniz Award from the German Research Foundation.

 

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Dr. Mike Hawbaker

Building SmartStax: The newest in corn hybrids

2050 Agronomy Hall

4:10 PM

Dr. Mike Hawbaker received his B.S. in Agronomy and M.S. in Plant Breeding from Iowa State University.  After receiving his Ph.D. in Crop Science and Genetics from North Carolina State University in 1995, Mike joined Asgrow Seed Company.  While with Asgrow, Mike managed a corn breeding program in Galena, MD which focused on the introgression of tropical corn genetics into temperate North American germplasm.  Mike’s role with Asgrow evolved and led him from the corn program at Galena to a more traditional corn breeding program in Ames, IA.  In 1999, Mike transitioned from corn into soybean breeding management by assuming the role of Southern Soybean Breeding Region Lead in Marion, AR.  In 2004, Mike assumed the responsibility of leading the North American Varietal Development Soybean Breeding group and coordinated development of the initial commercial Roundup Ready to Yield varieties from his current location in Ankeny, IA.  Mike currently is the North America Corn Trait Integration Lead within Monsanto.  In that role, Mike is responsible for leading corn trait integration breeders in evaluating and incorporating an expansive corn trait pipeline into Monsanto commercial products.