4 o' Clock Forum: Genomics-assisted breeding in cereals
Genomes to Fields: Genomics-Assisted Breeding in Cereals
Join us for the first 4 o'Clock Forum of this academic year, featuring Dr. Wubishet Bekele, Research Scientist, Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
About the speaker
Dr. Wubishet Bekele (Wubi) is a research scientist in Functional Cereal Genomics and Molecular Breeding at the Ottawa Research and Development Centre (ORDC) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). His current research focuses on developing and applying genomics tools to accelerate genetic gain in oat and barley breeding programs.. He obtained his master's and PhD degrees in Plant Breeding and Genomics from the Justus-Liebig University of Giessen in Germany and his undergraduate studies in plant sciences in his country of birth, Ethiopia.
Dr. Bekele's has been key in establishing genomic selection within the Ottawa RDC oat and barley breeding programs. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been instrumental in many genomics-related achievements, including establishing genotyping platforms in sorghum, barley, and oat; characterization of oat diversity, population structure and genetic/genomic analyses of various traits; and characterization of the first hexaploid oat reference genomes.
About the 4 o'Clock Forum Seminar Series
McGill's Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences has tremendous expertise and opportunities for innovations in research on agriculture, the environment, health, food, nutrition, pests and parasites, including from a biotechnology perspective. However, there are limited opportunities for faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students to share their common interests in these areas.
In order to bring together the Macdonald Science Community, we have initiated a monthly seminar series—"4 O'clock Forum"—where faculty members and postdoctoral fellows are invited to present their work. Through these seminars on the Macdonald campus, researchers and graduate students will have regular opportunities to be exposed to scientific advancements related to their own fields of research as well as other scientific areas. Graduate and undergraduate students can benefit from these academic opportunities, all of which are aimed at stimulating critical discussions about contemporary research and issues in the agriculture and environment, to foster increased interactions among the Macdonald faculty, and to highlight our ability to deliver outstanding scientific contributions.
Please jaswinder.singh [at] mcgill.ca (contact Professor Jaswinder Singh) with any questions.