Rex Bernardo, Director
Rex is professor and endowed chair in maize breeding and genetics at the University of Minnesota. He obtained his undergraduate degree in the Philippines in 1983 and his Ph.D. in plant breeding from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. Rex developed the widely used genomic best linear unbiased prediction or GBLUP procedure in 1994, and most of his work has focused on marker-assisted breeding. Rex teaches graduate courses in plant breeding and in professional skills for scientists. He has written two textbooks, entitled Breeding for Quantitative Traits in Plants and Essentials of Plant Breeding. In his leisure time, Rex enjoys playing the acoustic guitar, going tandem biking with his wife, and spending time with their six adult F1 progeny.
Liesl Bower-Jernigan, Program Coordinator
Liesl, a Ph.D. student in Applied Plant Sciences, coordinates the logistics and communication of the center's seminar services and workshops. Liesl is advised by Neil Anderson in the Department of Horticultural Science, and her thesis research focuses on the understudied Arctic Daisy. She obtained her B.S. biology at Seattle University in 2017. In her free time, Liesl enjoys reading, being outside, and watching Minnesota sports teams.
Alyssa Headley, Social Media Manager
Alyssa, who is an M.S. student in Applied Plant Sciences, maintains the center's social media presence on Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Alyssa is advised by Brandon Miller in the Department of Horticultural Science, and her thesis research is on production bottlenecks of emerging nursery crop species in the Upper Midwest. She is studying asexual propagation with desert olive and Mouse Ear Disorder in hazelnut and persimmon. Alyssa obtained her B.S. in soil and crop science at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2022. In her free time, Alyssa enjoys exploring Minnesota, cooking, and reading.