Graduate students are a critical part of the research initiatives within the Cooperative. These students also go on to serve as future leaders in the tree improvement community whether it be in the forest industry, public sector, or academia.
Current and recent graduate student research titles:
Pinar Guner, Ph.D. – Pinar is currently researching the development and applications of genomic markers in tree breeding.
Austin Heine, Ph.D. – "Expanding our Knowledge about Loblolly Pine Pollen to Increase Filled Seed per Cone from Controlled Pollinations"
Molly Irvin, Ph.D. – “Population genomics of race non-specific disease resistance in the endemic Pinus taeda-Cronartium quercuum f.sp. fusiforme pathosystem"
Yu-Ming Lin, PhD Candidate – “Correspondence between genomic relationships from a low-density targeted genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and high-density SNP marker panels in loblolly pine”
Donjae Son, PhD - Donjae is currently working with data available to help map Fusiform Rust disease for loblolly pine.
Mariano Tracta, MS - Mariano is currently working on developing a data processing method to estimate drill resistance value for selecting for wood density.
Austin Quate, MS - “Biomass cropping and the effects of thinning on different provenances of loblolly pine in the Piedmont of North Carolina”
Sarah Conner, MS - “Genetic Variation in Fusiform Rust Disease Resistance among Families Represented in the Northern Breeding Population of Loblolly Pine in the southeastern U.S.”