1. Tell me about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where did you go to college and what did you study?
I grew up in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota for undergraduate. Like many students, I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to study when I first arrived on campus. A few weeks into the semester, Dr. Norman Borlaug, who was an alumnus of the university, passed away. There was some press around campus regarding his contributions to wheat and the Green Revolution, and that's how I first learned about plant breeding as a career option. Inspired by his story, I began working in the wheat breeding and genetics laboratory on campus, led by Dr. Jim Anderson, and declared a major in Applied Plant Science, graduating in 2014. I then earned a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Cornell University in 2019 with Dr. Michael Gore and small grains breeder Dr. Mark Sorrells.
2. Where did you come to Utah State from and what were you doing there? What made you decide to apply for the position at Utah State?
I just wrapped up a postdoc at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, where I worked with the Global Wheat Program and Dr. Matthew Reynolds on two projects. In the first, we used genetics to understand why some varieties perform consistently well in most environments while others are highly variable. The second project aimed to increase yield under heat and drought by combining "source" (e.g. high biomass) and "sink" (e.g. high kernel weight) traits. While CIMMYT provides an outstanding environment for those interested in breeding and research in wheat, there aren't as many opportunities to work with growers or connect with students through teaching and advising. The position at Utah State University (USU) seemed to encompass those aspects in addition to providing an opportunity to work on wheat, so I was excited about the possibility of continuing my career here.
3. Tell me a little about your current position at Utah State. Do you have any goals for the future? What are you most excited about in this new position? What do you bring to the small grains department at Utah State?
I am building on one hundred years of wheat research and breeding at USU. Wade Dewey and David Hole put USU on the map for their work on resistance to dwarf bunt, which has been a major challenge in the region historically. They initiated a screening nursery in Logan where breeders from around the world can send material to be evaluated against the disease. It's a top priority for me to continue this important work and perhaps approach it from some new angles. At CIMMYT I also had the opportunity to work with some emerging technologies within plant breeding, namely genomics and remote sensing (e.g. drones, satellites). These tools can help us to identify promising breeding material more accurately and earlier in the breeding cycle, allowing us to deliver better varieties to growers more quickly. I plan to continue experimenting with these tools and begin to incrementally integrate them into the breeding program if we find something promising. I hope that this work with newer technologies may attract students to the program as well. As far as what I'm most excited about, I'm eager to get to know growers in the region and find out what the main challenges are. I view the breeding program as a service to the region with the breeding objectives informed by growers.
4. What is an accomplishment you’re proud of so far?
In 2013, some growers from the New York Corn and Soybean Growers Association initiated a research project to build optimal planting density prescriptions based on their own on-farm data. They turned to the university for support in data analysis just as I was getting started at Cornell and looking for a project. I didn't expect to work on precision agriculture as part of a plant breeding graduate program, but the project turned out to be one of the most fruitful, educational, and fulfilling experiences of my graduate studies. I worked directly with growers, traveling to their farms to take measurements and presenting updates at their annual crop tour. Every time I met with a grower, I felt like I learned something new about production agriculture. Most graduate students in plant breeding have little to no direct contact with growers, so it was a unique opportunity. The methods we developed were tested on growers' farms and were also communicated in an Agronomy Journal article. I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish, and I think the experience set me up well to begin working with growers from my new role at USU.
5. What is something you wish every producer knew about growing wheat?
When it comes to growing wheat, the growers are the experts, and, being new to the area, I have plenty to learn from them about production under the conditions out west. One thing I can share that I came to appreciate about wheat while at CIMMYT is the immense broad adaptation of the species. I worked with a yield dataset collected at hundreds of locations worldwide ranging from Norway to New Zealand and from below sea level in Jordan to above 3,000 meters in the Peruvian Andes. This adaptation to diverse climates is the result of thousands of years of selection, but the growers likely know all too well that "to survive" under these conditions isn't necessarily "to thrive" and that there can be considerable differences between how one variety might perform in Pocatello versus Monticello. That's a challenge for us as breeders – to develop varieties that yield well under the conditions of the growing environment – but this is one area where the growers can help us out. I know David Hole worked with some growers in the region to test breeding material on their land. Armed with more data on how our material performs under varying conditions around the region, we can make better decisions about which breeding lines might show promise for release as varieties. I really look forward to working with the wheat community here and seeing what we can accomplish in the years ahead.
