Kyle Linders

Kyle Linders

2023 Plant Science Symposium Chair

EDUCATION:

  • M.S. student, Agronomy, specialization in Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. Plant Biology – Biotechnology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

ADVISORS: Brandi Sigmon and James Schnable

EMAIL: klinders@huskers.unl.edu

Liinder's research involves characterizing phenotypic plasticity of growth and development traits in sorghum in response to nitrogen application. Sorghum is a hardy crop resilient to drought, heat stress, and nitrogen deficit, allowing it to be grown on marginal land with minimal inputs. Insufficient nitrogen availability can reduce vegetative growth and grain yield, but excess nitrogen application can have a negative environmental impact. In order to characterize the genetic architecture of sorghum response to nitrogen application, we designed a multi-year field experiment that included a sorghum diversity panel grown with and without nitrogen fertilizer application. Various biomass and inflorescence related traits were phenotyped to estimate above-ground biomass accumulation and grain yield potential. Genome wide association studies were then conducted to identify genetic markers associated with these traits under both nitrogen treatments, as well as each line’s response to nitrogen application. Better understanding the genetic factors involved in nitrogen stress response could potentially lead to the breeding of improved sorghum varieties.

Yuvraj Chopra

Yuvraj Chopra

2023 Plant Science Symposium Vice-Chair

EDUCATION:

  • M.S. in Plant Breeding & Genetics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana

ADVISORS: Harkamal Walia and Scott Sattler

EMAIL: ychopra3@huskers.unl.edu

Chopra's research at UNL focuses on examining the impact of modifying monolignol biosynthesis on stress tolerance traits in sorghum. The project is important because altering lignin composition can improve digestibility thus making sorghum more amenable for biofuel and forage purposes, if such modifications alter stress response it could have agronomic limitations. Any discovery made with this project will provide novel insights into the connection between monolignol biosynthesis and plant stress response, along with direct farm-level implications. He is an active member of the Agronomy and Horticulture Graduate Student Association at UNL, currently the recruitment chair.

Kristina Alas

Kristina Alas

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. student in Agronomy, specialization in Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • M.S. in Agronomy, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Horticulture, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

ADVISORS: Keenan Amundsen

EMAIL: kalas@huskers.unl.edu

Alas is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Agronomy & Horticulture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She conducts research to support the hop breeding program. Her research focuses on the development of hop cultivars adapted to the Midwest so that regional producers can have consistent yields and beer brewers can have consistency in their ingredients. Additionally, she’s focused on extending our understanding of the genetic basis of downy mildew resistance to enable the development of resistant hop varieties.

Sydney Graham

Sydney Graham

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. Student in Agronomy, specialization in Crop Science, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • M.Sc. in Crop Science, North Carolina State University
  • B.S. in Genetics, University of Wisconsin Madison

ADVISORS: Katherine Frels and Jeffrey Boehm

EMAIL: sgraham12@huskers.unl.edu

Graham's research aims to improve Wheat Stem Sawfly (WSS, Cephus cinctus) resistance in wheat via high throughput phenotyping and genomic selection. Because screening for WSS is labor intensive she is identifying methods to quickly evaluate stem solidness with image analysis and detect infestation of WSS with multi-spectral UAV data. Improved phenotyping methods will be used to develop genomic prediction models to provide WSS resistant wheat to Nebraska growers. Additionally, she is the incoming barley breeder for the UNL Small Grains program, where the focus is cultivar development for several markets, including feed, forage, and malting types.

Pragya Gupta

Pragya Gupta

EDUCATION:

  • M.S. in Entomology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Agriculture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana

ADVISORS: Justin McMechan

EMAIL: pgupta4@huskers.unl.edu

Gupta's research at UNL is looking into the management of the new pest species Soybean Gall Midge (Resseliella maxima) recently reported so far in 5 Midwestern states of the USA causing severe plant injury to the soybeans. More specifically her project is focused on the cultural management of this pest. Finding an effective management strategy is critical for reducing economic losses. In addition to serving on the oral presentation committee for the 2023 NPSS, Pragya is an active member of the Bruner Club Entomology Graduate Association and part of various committees. Currently chair of the Outreach Committee in the Department of Entomology.

Lexie Foster

Lexie Foster

EDUCATION:

  • M.S. in Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Microbiology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

ADVISORS: Daniel Schachtman

EMAIL: lexie.foster@huskers.unl.edu

Foster's research is looking into the interconnected relationship between beneficial soil bacteria and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) in maize. More specifically, her project is focused on testing potentially beneficial bacterial species isolated from the soil microbiome that, when inoculated into a maize seedling, may have a positive effect on certain growth traits of maize in low nitrogen conditions. This research is centered around studying methods of increasing NUE in crops, such as maize, in more sustainable and innovative forms, to both increase yield and food security, while at the same time, decreasing the negative impacts of nitrogen fertilizer on the environment.

Andrea Rilakovic

Andrea Rilakovic

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. Department of Entomology, Agroecosystem Entomology Laboratory, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • M.S. University of Belgrade, Serbia, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Phytomedicine (Plant protection)
  • B.S. University of Belgrade, Serbia, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Phytomedicine (Plant protection)

ADVISORS: Julie Peterson and Ana Velez

EMAIL: arilakovic2@huskers.unl.edu

Rilakovic's research focuses on comparing insecticide application techniques, such as aerial and chemigation applications, for western bean cutworm management in intensive corn production. Andrea is a highly active member of the Bruner Club Entomology Graduate Association and currently serves as chair of the Education committee, and student representative to the Entomology Society of America – North Central Branch. In addition, she is also engaged with CASNR student professional development activities where she advocates for students' needs.

Hongyu Jin

Hongyu Jin

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. student in Complex Biosystems Program with a specialization in Integrated Plant Biology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Agronomy, China Agricultural University, China

ADVISORS: James C. Schnable and Jinliang Yang

EMAIL: hjin5@huskers.unl.edu

Jin’s research focuses on using innovative genomics and phenomics data to find complex gene phenotype associations and accelerate crop breeding cycles. He built new yield prediction models using multiple phenotypic data and these models were found to have higher prediction accuracies than genomic prediction models in cross environment scenarios. Currently he is working on phenotypic characterization and verification of sorghum nitrogen responsive gene edits. An image-based phenotyping pipeline he optimized has successfully tracked the nitrogen deficiency of sorghum edits. The promising results encourage people to do further functional studies on these genes.

Shohei Oguro

Shohei Oguro

EDUCATION:

  • M.S. student, Agronomy, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • B.S. in Agriculture, Hiroshima University, Japan

ADVISORS: Harkamal Walia

EMAIL: soguro2@huskers.unl.edu

Shohei’s research focuses on characterizing a pair of cell cycle-related genes under heat stress in rice. Heat stress caused by global warming is one of the most serious abiotic stresses, and it results in disturbing the grain filling in spikelets. He is testing how these genes regulate the cell cycle, grain filling, and yield under heat stress during panicle initiation and differentiation stages. This work could be potentially used to enhance the heat stress tolerance in rice. Currently, He is a member of the Agronomy and Horticulture Graduate Association at UNL in charge of Agronomy farms and greenhouse facilities.

Sanket Shinde

Sanket Shinde

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. Ph.D. student in Entomology , University of Nebraska–Lincoln
  • M.S. in Agricultural Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
  • B.S. in Agricultural Biotechnology, VNMKV, Parbhani, India

ADVISORS: Joe Louis

EMAIL: sshinde2@huskers.unl.edu

Shinde's research is focused on plant-insect interaction area, where he is trying to identify novel source of resistance in sorghum against polyphagous pest fall armyworm (FAW). Overall, his study involves the combination of transcriptomic, metabolomic, and proteomic approaches to understand the underlying genetic mechanism of resistance in sorghum against FAW, and how FAW modulates sorghum defenses. The potential outcome of his research, eventually could contribute to sorghum breeding program to develop FAW-resistant varieties to minimizing high yield losses of sorghum, thus help design novel targets for pest control and manipulate insect behavior in a manner that reduces toxic pesticide dependence.