Genetics & Breeding
June 24, 2025
Erin Sparks
Sparks holds a joint appointment with the University of Missouri and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. She is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex challenges. Her background training includes a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology and postdoctoral work in Plant Molecular Biology. Educational background Ph.D., Vanderbilt University…
July 2, 2024
Jay S. Johnson
Johnson is an Associate Professor of Animal Welfare and Stress Physiology in the Division of Animal Sciences. The overall goal of his research program is to identify production-relevant stressors and evaluate and mitigate their impacts on livestock health, productivity, and welfare. Johnson’s research program uses an integrative physiology approach encompassing aspects of stress physiology, nutritional physiology, and applied ethology to develop and/or improve upon livestock husbandry practices that enhance animal health and welfare while maintaining or increasing economic return for producers. Specific research areas include improving heat stress resilience in swine through genomic selection, improved management, and nutrition to reduce…
Jan. 24, 2024
Feng Lin
Lin is a soybean breeder at the Fisher Delta Research, Extension, and Education Center (FD-REEC) focusing on soybean cultivar development and germplasm enhancement (maturity group III and IV). His primary goal is to ensure a steady flow of releasing superior conventional and herbicide tolerant soybean varieties adaptive to Southeast Missouri and Mid-South U.S. His research focuses on the improvement of soybean seed quality traits (high yield potential, high protein, high oleic, etc), pest and disease resistance (SCN, RKN, PRR, etc), abiotic stress tolerance (drought, flooding, salinity, etc), and incorporation of genetic diversities. Education background Ph.D., Purdue University…
Nov. 21, 2023
Hong An
Educational background Ph.D., Plant Genetics and Breeding, Huazhong Agricultural University…
Oct. 16, 2023
Jamie Courter
Educational background Ph.D., Animal Breeding and Genetics, University of Nebraska – Lincoln M.S., Animal Breeding and Genetics, South Dakota State University B.S., Animal Science, Minor in Genetics, North Carolina State University…
April 5, 2023
Andre Froes de Borja Reis
Andre FB Reis is the statewide specialist in soybean farming systems and joined the division of Plant Science and Technology in 2023. Educational background Ph.D., Crop Science, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) M.S., Crop Science, Federal University of Tocantins (Brazil) B.S., Agronomy, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)…
Feb. 6, 2023
Hong Jo Lee
Educational background Ph.D., Seoul National University Classes Taught AN_SCI 4973: Molecular and Cellular Techniques in Animal Science AN_SCI 4979: Poultry Production…
May 18, 2020
David Braun
Carbohydrate partitioning is the process whereby photoassimilates are distributed from their site of synthesis in leaves to the rest of the plant. Control of carbohydrate partitioning is crucial for plant growth and development, and underlies all aspects of crop yield, including cellulose deposition in cell walls and sucrose accumulation in storage organs, such as the stems of sugarcane or sweet sorghum. For most plants, fixed carbon, in the form of sucrose, is loaded into the phloem and transported from leaves to non-photosynthetic tissues, such as stems, roots, and fruits. This process is well characterized at the physiological, biochemical, and anatomical…
Jan. 14, 2020
Tom Slewinski
Tom Slewinski currently leads the Crop Efficiency and Disease Discovery Lead in the Biotechnology division of Bayer Crop Science in Chesterfield, MO. Prior to joining industry, Tom completed his post-doctoral training at Cornell University where he worked on the underlying genetics, physiology and evolution of phloem loading in trees and kranz-type C4 photosynthesis in maize. Educational background Ph.D., Plant Biology, Pennsylvania State University. B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University…
Sep. 9, 2018
Mariola Usovsky
Mariola is a passionate molecular soybean breeder and scientist with over 10 years of public soybean breeding experience. She is highly involved in the soybean breeding pipeline and release of many soybean cultivars. Her expertise includes introgression of traits that involve high oleic and low linolenic genes for improving soybean fatty acid composition, protein genes for increasing seed protein content, soybean cyst nematode resistance genes, and genes with tolerance to Liberty® and Enlist® herbicides. She works towards optimizing plant breeding schemes to help reduce costs and time. Moreover, Mariola develops strategic directions, goals, and plans for molecular research, and provides…