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Congratulations to Class VI of the European UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy(sm)  (EPBA) on their recent Graduation! Preferred in-person teaching model for 6 weeks, EPBA VI had 2 sessions online in 2021 due to pandemic. The graduating class includes 17 students from 13 countries, and all are now fully trained to run plant breeding programs and/or contribute to larger breeding teams.

Class VIII of the Plant Breeding Academy recently finished their second week in Davis. Selection Theory, Genetic Variances, Heritability’s, Accumulation of favorable alleles, Genetic Gain, Recurrent Selection, Chromosome engineering, to name just a few topics we covered last week. The class enjoyed getting together again, this time with all 20 students in attendance.

Dr. Jay Patel has recently joined our teaching roster of the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy as one of the core instructors, beside Dr. Kendra Armstrong, (42 Ag Genetics), Dr. Kent Bradford, Dr. Jovan Djordjevic, and Dr. Allen Van Deynze of UC Davis.

Congratulations to Class VII students of the Davis Plant Breeding Academy. This class is exceptional, for they began in 2018 and the pandemic prevented them from meeting for 2 years until they finally came together for their final Week and Graduation on April 11-15. The graduating class consisted of 14 students, 9 of which were able to meet in-person in Davis, while 5 were online via Zoom. We wish a special congratulations and the best of luck to PBA Class VII! 

Allen Van Deynze explains importance of access to all of the tools in the plant breeders’ toolbox, including gene editing to combat climate change and attain nutritional security across crops and nations. Learn More >>

Dr Kendra Armstrong has recently joined our teacher roaster of UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy, as a core instructor. 

“Being an instructor for UC Davis’ PBA is a career highlight and a great opportunity. Working with the students has been tremendously rewarding already, and I am looking forward to more great interactions in coming sessions and cohorts", said Dr Kendra Armstrong.

Kent Bradford Receives Lifetime membership to International Society for Seed Science Read More >>

European PBA Class VI completed their fifth week in Almeria, Spain and were lucky to get some great weather during their trip. They visited Bayer and Rijk Zwaan in Almeria and are looking forward to their week 6 graduation in June.

Davis PBA Class VIII completed their first session (week 1 of 6) in Davis on February 7-12, and the class proved to be filled with bright, eager plant breeders, ready to learn more. They are looking forward to week 2 in June.

After two sessions taking place online due to the pandemic, the European Plant Breeding Academy students and instructors were excited to meet in person in Angers, France Academy instructors included SBC Director of Education Jovan Djordjevic, SBC Director, Allen Van Deynze and Alexandra Tomerius.

SBC is very happy to announce that we now have a new Director of Research at the SBC, Dr. Imtiyaz Khanday who continue working on seeds as a propagule. Imtiyaz is an assistant professor of plant reproductive biology in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and an assistant agronomist for the Agricultural Experiment Station. Imtiyaz grew up among the highest mountains in the world in Kashmir valley and received his master’s in biotechnology from University of Kashmir.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Jovan Djordjevic to our team as SBC’s executive director! Jovan has spent over 25 cumulative years with Monsanto, Limagrain and BASF Vegetable Seeds, where he most recently directed research and breeding teams and developed crop strategy (vegetable seeds) as BASF Vegetable’s Global R&D Team Lead for breeding. An accomplished and experienced plant breeder, he brings a broad-based expertise in plant breeding research and development.

Industrial hemp has many uses, including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, and fuel. With the increased focus on breeding for industrial hemp and cannabis, European Seed spoke with Rale (Radiša) Gjuric, Director of the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy, to get his take on the ins and outs of this new course and the risen interest in the crop.
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