Jim Elder, USDA-ARS Biological Sciences Technician (2018-2021)

Wide ranging expertise, from molecular biology to operating field research equipment, and everything in between! Jim has moved to the USDA-ARS lab of Norman Best, so we are lucky to keep him in our maize group.

David Wills (2014-2017)

Postdoctoral Fellow who came to us from John Doebley's lab where he worked on prolificacy in maize and teosinte. He worked on the AFRI-funded ATLAS grant to test for pleiotropic effects and linkage drag. He is currently a Senior Research Associate at the University of Georgia.

Ginnie Morrison (2013-2016)

Postdoctoral Fellow who worked on the NSF-funded project "Biology of Rare Alleles in Maize and its Wild Relatives." She received her PhD from the University of Texas. She has never worked with corn before but was always really excited to work on inbreeding depression in the Zea Synthetic population in the field this summer! She is an Application Engineer with L7 Informatics, located in Austin, TX.

Zhengbin Liu (2011-2014)

A native of China, Zhengbin worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow on the NSF-funded project "Genetic Architecture of Maize and Teosinte." His projects involved the analysis of kernel shape/weight and leaf traits in the Teosinte NILs. Zhengbin moved on to a post-doc position in Chris Topp's lab at the Danforth Center and is currently working as a Data Scientist with Partek Software in St. Louis.

Justin Gerke (2011)

Was a Postdoctoral Fellow for a very brief time at MU. Justin is currently a Genome and Molecular Data Science Leader with Corteva Agriscience in Johnston, IA.

Jason Cook (2009-1012)

Postdoctoral Fellow who worked on the NSF-funded project "Genetic Architecture of Maize and Teosinte." After a short stint at NCSU, Jason worked as a wheat breeder in industry for several years and is now Assistant Professor at Montana State University working on the development of a wheat NAM population.

Adam Bray, PhD (2015-2020)

Adam was a PhD student at Mizzou but worked at the Danforth Center under the direction of Chris Topp. His project involved studying root phenotypes in the NAM founders and various sub-populations, a number of root mutants, and various population selected for root and drought phenotypes. Adam is currently a Wheat Product Development Scientist, Bayer Crop Science, St. Louis, MO.

Anna Glowinski, PhD (2013-2019)

PhD Student. Anna is a native of Indiana, and graduate of Hannover College. Her project centers on the Zea Synthetic doubled haploids (DH). She evaluated the DH lines for several agronomic and fitness traits, and identified which regions of the genome were selected against during DH production. Anna is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Trine University in Angola, IN.

Avinash Karn (2012-2017)

A native of Nepal and graduate of Truman State University, Avi was a PhD student in the Division of Plant Sciences. His projects involved identifying QTLs for kernel composition traits in the Teosinte NILs and looking for epistasis in the Teosinte Synthetic population. Avi is currently a North America Product Placement Analytics Scientist, Syngenta Seeds US in Downers Grove, IL.

Eleanor Hartle (2023-2024)

Eleanor has a background in engineering and wanted to gain experience with genetics in preparation for becoming a science teacher.

Nell Waller (2022-2024)

Nell started with our lab as a high school student and remained on after she started at MU. She hopes to study abroad and maybe go to grad school after graduation.

Danielle (Danny) Davis (2021-2024)

Danny received her BS in plant sciences in 2024 and is currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison working with our collaborator, Bill Tracy, in his sweet corn breeding program. Danny used Nancy's heirloom marriages to make tortillas and hosted a tasting panel study that caught the attention of several news outlets (see media page). We lovingly referred to her as the lab's "PR Representative" due to her extroverted nature and contagious passion for research.

Garret Hall (2021-2023)
OG, the Original Garret, received his BS in Plant Sciences in 2023. He is currently a PhD student at MU in Dr. Andrew Scaboo's lab studying soybeans. Garret's height was an advantage when pollinating tall heirloom corn varieties, and his positive attitude was appreciated by everyone.  

Garrett Clark (2022-2023)
"Double T" had prior experience in weed sciences with Dr. Reid Smeda (he loved hoeing weeds!) and joined the lab to learn more about corn production for whiskey distillation. He is an old soul and a very hard worker. After recieving his BS in Plant Sciences in 2023, he returned to his family farm.

Hawaa Fayed (2022)
As a Biochemistry major at MU, Hawaa wanted to learn more about plants, so she decided to work in the corn field. She proved to be an incredibly fast learner and became very invested in Sarah's project. She took her knowledge of corn into the lab where began working with Ruthie Angelovici, helping with Sarah's project studying asparagine metabolism in maize kernels. She did an internship with Corteva in summer 2023 and plans to graduate in 2024.  

Melanie Carraher (2018-2021)
Melanie was a Plant Sciences student studying Breeding, Biology and Biotechnology. Her first couple months on the job included managing our corn in the greenhouse during a one-month government shutdown. Melanie loves horticulture and gardening as much as several other plant-aholics in the lab! Melanie has moved on to do a master's degree at MU, studying plant diseases of row crops.

Alex Folk (2017-2019)
Alex was a Biological Sciences student, and worked on a capstone project with our group, investigating several aspects of doubled haploids in the Zea Synthetic. Upon graduation, Alex attended basic training for the National Guard and snuck back into the corn field between National Guard commitments. He currently works for Sinclair Research.

Cassady Watkins (summer 2017)
Cassady was a high school student who worked with us one summer in the corn field. She was also very active in FFA in the Columbia Public Schools.

Nick Rector (summer 2017)
Nick was a Plant Sciences student at MU. He was very happy collecting insects in the corn field for his Entomology class.

Maggie Schopp (2015-2017)
Maggie was a high school student when she began working for us. She has since graduated from high school, and will be heading to the University of Chicago in the fall.

Ryan Haag (2016)
Ryan was an Animal Sciences major at MU but had prior experience in the corn breeding industry. We welcomed Ryan's experience in the field!

Casey Baumgartner (2013-2016)
An undergraduate majoring in Fisheries and Wildlife. Casey liked the corn so much that she came back for a second and even a third year!

Morgan Gifford (2014-2016)
An undergraduate majoring in food science and minoring in plant science. Morgan worked on a grape project one summer and wanted to learn about corn at MU.

Chelsea Jeter (2013-2015)
An undergraduate at MU, majoring in Biochemistry. Chelsea hopes to spend her last semester studying abroad in Japan, but wanted to work in the corn field before she leaves. Chelsea has moved on to a job in industry.

Devin Horst (2015)
A student majoring in Plant Sciences. Devin worked with us during summer the crazy summer of 2015, when we were unable to plant our main nursery. But we had plenty of other corn to keep him happy!

Jose Daniel Froes (2014)
Jose Daniel (aka Junior) an exchange student from Brazil and was at MU for a Study Abroad program in Agricultural Engineering. He joined our lab one summer to learn about corn breeding and genetics.

James Jeffrey (2014)
James J was a Navy Reservist and undergraduate at in Biological Sciences at MU. After graduating James was hoping to get into physical therapy school.

James Bain (2014)
James B was a master's student in Anthropology, studying prenatal care in ancient cultures. He was curious about the evolution of corn, so decided to work with us in the summer.

Alex Higgins (2012-2013)
A recent graduate of MU, majoring in Music Education. Alex is the band director at North Callaway High School in Kingdom City, Missouri, but can't get enough field work so he comes back to work for the Genetics Farm each summer!

Robin Phillips (2010-2011, 2013)
After graduating with her biology degree, Robin graduated from the radiology program at MU and worked part time at the university hospital x-ray department before becoming full time.

Collin Luebbert (2013)
An undergraduate at MU, majoring in Plant Sciences. Collin is currently working in Ivan Baxter's Lab at the Danforth Center.

Joe Bevilacqua (2011-2013)
A recent graduate of Plant Sciences at MU. Joe has moved on to a job in industry.

Matt Boyer (2011-2013)
Undergraduate at MU, majoring in History. Matt enjoys Civil War battle reenactments, so the summer heat in the corn field doesn't faze him!

Taylor Carolan (2011-2012)
Undergraduate at MU, majoring in Animal Sciences. Taylor hopes to start graduate school in Animal Science soon.

Will Silvia (2010-2011)
Plant Sciences major at MU. Will was very interested in brewing, so we "hop" he ended up in a job where there was much fermentation. 

Ben Sammons (2010-2011)
Biochemistry major at MU.

Nathan Capkovic (2009-2011)
Started working in the corn field while a high school student in St. Louis. But Nathan learned to love corn and came back for a total of three summer seasons!

Ryan Missey (2009-2010)
Undergraduate at MU who majored in Agribusiness Management & Agricultural Systems Management.

Mark Merrifield (2009-2010)
Undergraduate at MU who majored in Pre-Physical Therapy.

Kara Small (2009-2010)
Graduate of Texas A&M, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation/Management. Kara worked out in the corn field during the week and was a scuba diving instructor on the weekends.

Kate Pyatek (2009)
Experienced in soybean genetics and breeding but was happy to work on corn while applying to medical school. Last seen roaming around Alaska.

Megan Harney (2008)
A graduate student in Psychology at MU who enjoyed pollinating corn in the summer.  A welcome skill set for our lab!

Racy Brand (2008)
A high school student who worked in the corn field for one summer. 

Kellen Stroupe (2007)

Martin Krueger (2007)
Was a Geological and Earth Sciences major at MU, and is currently a Senior Geologist in Norway.