News & Events


Summer Institute

January 18, 2024

Registration is now open for the 2024 Summer Institute in Plant Breeding, which will have six 2.5-day modules and will feature instructors from the Plant Breeding Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 


Young corn pickers

September 14, 2023

More than 100 corn-pickers came to a series of GopherCorn U-pick events in late August and early September. Rex Bernardo talked about plant breeding at the U, described how GopherCorn was developed, and ushered the participants to a field where they picked ears of this maroon-and-gold supersweet variety to bring home.


2023 Annual retreat

September 1, 2023

The Plant Breeding Center held its annual retreat near Farmington, MN on August 29-30, 2023. The retreat was supported by a generous gift from Bayer Crop Science in honor of Scott Bergemann, who worked in the corn breeding program at the University prior to embarking on a highly successful career as a corn breeder with Monsanto. The two-day event included quick reports of student and faculty research, a workshop on science communication, and free time.


2023 Community Plant Breeding Team field day

August 11, 2023

The Community Plant Breeding Team hosted a field day last August 8 to showcase the center's work on breeding African leafy vegetables. The dinner event, which was co-sponsored by the Hennepin County Master Gardeners, included a field tour, exhibits by different partners, and tasting different dishes brought by the participants.


Jim Luby

July 28, 2023

Congratulations to Jim Luby on receiving the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from National Association of Plant Breeders! Jim was recognized for his contributions to cultivar development, plant breeding research, undergraduate and graduate instruction and advising, and leadership in the horticultural plant breeding community. Jim and his colleague David Bedford have developed favorite apple cultivars including Honeycrisp, SweeTango, and First Kiss.


Some participants at 2023 Summer Institute

July 14, 2023

The 2023 Summer Institute in Plant Breeding was held in Ghent, Belgium on July 3-7. This event, which co-sponsored by Plant B+B of Ghent University, had more than 90 participants, mostly from Europe. In addition to three modules taught during the 2022 Summer Institute, the 2023 event included modules on CRISPRing in Plants and The Many Dimensions of Plant Phenotyping.