Throughout the month of April, topics such as herbicide resistance, plant breeding technology and pasture productivity will be discussed by speakers during the Agronomy and Horticulture Spring 2021 Online Seminar Series. Seminars begin at 3:30 p.m. via Zoom

Recordings of earlier seminars in Spring 2021, as well as seminars from previous years, are also available in the Agronomy and Horticulture archives.

Remaining Spring Seminars

April 9 — Research @ Scale: Developing Crop Science Products Through Innovative Science and Modern Data Architecture with Ruth Wagner, head of Data Science and Analytics at Bayer Crop Science, St. Louis, Missouri

Bayer is a life science company and a global leader in health care and nutrition whose products support efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. As the industry leader, Bayer Crop Science has a role in helping the world meet the growing challenges and demand for agricultural. In this talk, Drs. Ruth Wagner, Linda Rymarquis and Ian Davis will share how scientific innovations like gene editing and data infrastructure are shaping our Plant Biotechnology R&D pipeline.

Note: This presentation video will not be posted to the website.

April 16 — Management of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds: Challenges and Opportunities with Rodrigo Werle, assistant professor and Extension Cropping Systems weed scientist, agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Herbicide-resistant weeds represent a major threat to sustainability and profitability of row crop production systems in the U.S. Midwest and beyond. Werle will discuss ongoing research efforts in Wisconsin to provide growers and decision influencers with research-based information to be more effective and sustainable integrated weed management systems.

April 23 — From Plant Proteins and Metabolites to Protein Networks and Metabolic Pathways with Sophie Alvarez, research associate professor, agronomy and horticulture, director of the Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility, Nebraska Center for Biotechnology, University of Nebraska

Proteomics and metabolomics are two of the “omics” technologies that are still underrepresented in plant biology despite their well-recognized value to crop science. With the help of examples, this talk will show how using these approaches contribute to advancing our understanding of plant coping strategies and defense mechanisms when they are under stress.

April 30 — Expanding the Breeding Toolbox to Develop Soybean Cultivars with Asheesh Singh, professor, agronomy, Bayer chair in Soybean Breeding, associate chair for Discovery and Engagement, director of Graduate Education (Plant Breeding), R.F. Baker Center for Plant Breeding, Plant Sciences Institute, Iowa State University, Ames

The soybean breeding program at Iowa State University, through an interdisciplinary effort, is developing strategies and building tools to improve the breeding pipeline. This presentation will explore few emerging technologies and data analytics developed or utilized in our program to study plant traits, and describe their application in phenotyping and cultivar development.

May 7 — Increasing Pasture Productivity and Quality to Support Grazing Livestock with John A. Guretzky, associate professor and Grassland Systems ecologist, agronomy and horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

This seminar will describe the structure and function of cool-season grass pastures in the Midwest including those dominated by perennials and seeded with annuals. Strategies and knowledge gaps to enhancing pasture productivity and quality through cultivar introductions, interseeding, and planting of simple to complex mixtures will be emphasized.