Faculty
Robert Brueggeman
The focus of my breeding program as the Robert A. Nilan Endowed Chair in Barley Research and Education is the development of malt, food, and feed varieties with high quality and yield that are widely adapted to diverse regions of Washington State. My basic research projects utilize molecular genetics, genomics and functional analysis tools to explore the mechanisms underlying biotic and abiotic stress resistances in barley. The genes and signaling pathways my team characterize are important to production in the dryland growing regions of the inland northwest. The knowledge and molecular tools developed can be translated to the field through targeted breeding efforts aided by genetic marker-based and genomic selection strategies.
Ian Burke
My laboratory at Washington State University is focused on basic aspects of weed biology and ecology with the goal of integrating such information into practical and economical methods of managing weeds in both irrigated and dryland cropping systems.
Arron Carter
As the Orville A. Vogel Endowed Chair in Winter Wheat Breeding and Genetics, my program is focused on developing high-yielding, high-quality wheat cultivars with resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, thereby mitigating grower risk and increasing sustainability of wheat production in Washington. My research focuses on genetic mapping of disease resistance, wheat end-use quality, and utilization of phenomics and high-throughput phenotyping to select for stress tolerance.
Weidong Chen, USDA-ARS
My research program focuses on diseases of pulse crops including pea, chickpea and lentil. I carry out applied and fundamental research on fungal diseases, ranging from disease diagnoses, epidemiology, disease management to genetics of plant-pathogen interactions to unravel mechanisms of pathogen virulence and host resistance. Current research efforts are on managing metalaxyl-resistant Pythium populations, and interactions of fungal (Ascochyta and Sclerotinia) effectors with host receptors in modulating disease development.
Clare Coyne, USDA-ARS
My research program focuses on the utilization of cool season food legume germplasm (pea, lentil, chickpea, and faba bean) in crop improvement. Current collaborative projects include building genomic resources for pea and lentil (reference genomes and resequencing germplasm), quantitative resistance to root rots in pea and lentil, winter-hardiness and seed quality in pea and chickpea.
Kim Garland Campbell, USDA-ARS
My research focuses on identification and manipulation of mechanisms of genetic resistance to cold and improvement of wheat end use quality, specifically for club and soft white wheat. My research also focuses on statistical methods of identifying, controlling, and exploting genotype by environment interaction.
Kulvinder Gill
Kulvinder Gill’s research program mainly focuses on three projects: 1. Understanding chromosome pairing control in polyploids and its utility in crop improvement; 2. Improving heat tolerance in wheat; and 3. accomplishing quick, efficient, precise and targeted transfer of agronomically important genes across cultivars and species by developing and using fast breeding methods. Co-funded by USAID and government of India, he is leading a $16.3 million project to develop heat-tolerant wheat for SE Asia. The project has 47 scientists from 12 Indian research institutes and two private companies.
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones runs the Bread Lab which works on breeding non- commodity wheat, barley and buckwheat for the coastal pacific northwest. Targets of the breeding program are flavor, nutritional density, yield and low input requirements of the crop.
Ted Kisha, USDA-ARS
Ted Kisha is the curator of Phaseolus Species of the National Plant Germplasm System of the USDA-ARS. In addition to the acquisition, maintenance, and regeneration of Phaseolus germplasm, his research on characterization includes genetic diversity assesment and nutritional quality of beans.
Drew Lyon
My Extension and Research Program focuses on integrated weed management in dryland small grain production in eastern Washington. Research efforts are directed at the most troublesome weeds in each of the three rainfall zones of eastern Washington.
Rebecca McGee, USDA-ARS
My research focuses on breeding and genetics of pulse crops – primarily spring-sown peas and lentils and autumn-sown peas, lentils and chickpeas. The main emphasis of my breeding programs is developing high yielding, adapted varieties with resistance to biotic stresses (soil borne pathogens, aphid-vectored viral diseases, foliar fungal pathogens) as well as the abiotic stresses of heat, cold and drought stress. End use quality characteristics, including Biofortification for mineral nutrients, is also addressed.
Phil Miklas, USDA-ARS
My research area is in dry bean breeding and genetics with a regional, national, and international focus. Current efforts are focused on the identification, characterization, and deployment of novel disease resistance traits using traditional and marker-based approaches. Research is also directed toward characterization and development of dry beans that yield well with less inputs (less water and less fertilizer).
Craig Morris, USDA-ARS
Director of the Western Wheat Quality Lab (WWQL). Research is focused on the underlying genetics of wheat grain quality and utilization. The WWQL collaborates on wheat cultivar development by conducting milling, baking and end-use quality evaluations on experimental wheat breeding lines.
Kevin Murphy
My program, the Sustainable Seed Systems Lab, is focused on the breeding and agronomy of barley, quinoa, millet, spelt, and perennial wheat. We work closely with farmers on regional to international scales to develop high yielding, nutritionally dense seed crop varieties for a diversity of cropping systems.
Michael Neff
Neff lab research focuses on understanding how seeds and seedlings respond to their external light environment and how these pathways interact with plant hormones such as brassinosteroids and auxins. The Neff lab uses a variety of plants for this research including the model systems Arabidopsis thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon. We use fundamental molecular genetics to understand how these pathways regulate plant growth and development. The Neff lab also uses molecular genetics and genomics to translate this knowledge to cereal crops such as wheat, and oilseed crops such as camelina and canola. The Neff lab also has a breeding program focusing on various turf grasses and the orphan crop teff.
Michael Pumphrey
As the Orville A. Vogel Endowed Chair in Spring Wheat Breeding and Genetics, my program is focused on the development of biotic and abiotic stress tolerant, high-yielding, and high-quality wheat varieties for diverse Washington production environments. Genetic dissection of disease resistance, grain quality, and abiotic stress tolerance traits are major research areas.
Karen Sanguinet
My research program focuses on the molecular genetic and genomic cues that govern root development in grasses. We use B. distachyon as a model as well as wheat to study how roots grow in their native and diverse soil environments. In addition, we study how the plant cell well and hormones mediate morphogenesis in the root.
Dan Skinner, USDA-ARS
My research focuses on defining the gene expression and physiological responses of wheat plants to freezing stress with the goal of improving winterhardiness and climate change resilience.
Camille Steber, USDA-ARS
Camille Steber’s research examines the hormonal control of seed dormancy, germination, and plant responses to environmental stress. The goal of her wheat research program is to provide the breeding tools needed to reduce the risk of low Hagberg-Perten falling numbers, an indicator of starch degradation in wheat flour. Low falling numbers can result both from preharvest sprouting in the rain and induction of late maturity alpha-amylase (LMA) by temperature fluctuations during grain maturation. Her fundamental research program uses molecular genetic approaches to understand how the plant hormones GA and ABA control seed dormancy, germination, and the expression of the alpha-amylase enzyme that causes low falling numbers in wheat.
George Vandemark, USDA-ARS
My research focuses on developing improved cultivars of chickpeas that are adapted to the “Palouse” region of Washington and Idaho, and the Northern Plains regions of Montana and North Dakota. I am especially interested in coupling increased yield to enhancements in other traits including nutritional quality, resistance to soilborne diseases, and capacity to for form symbiotic associations with beneficial rhizobacteria.
Zhiwu Zhang
As the endowment recipient of Washington Grain Commission for distinguished professorship in quantitative genetics, my major focus is to develop innovative, cutting-edge statistical methods and computing tools to advance genomic research toward the sustainable development of food production. I also teach a graduate level course, Statistical Genomics, mainly covering gene mapping through Genome Wide Association Studies and molecular breeding through genomic prediction