Valerio Hoyos-Villegas

Valerio is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Science. He holds a research, teaching and service appointment in plant breeding and genetics at McGill University.

Education

• Ph.D., Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology. Michigan State University (2015)

• M.S., Crop Physiology, University of Missouri (2011)

• B.S., Agronomy, Universidad de Caldas, Colombia (2008)

Active Affiliations

• Executive Leadership Board: North American Plant Phenotyping Network

• Education Committee: National Association of Plant Breeders

• Technical Editor: Crop Science; The Plant Phenome Journal.

• Associate Editor: Frontiers in Plant Science - Plant Breeding Section; Journal of Plant Registrations; New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research; The Crop Journal.

• Adjunct Lecturer, Lincoln University. Lincoln, New Zealand.

Jeff Smith

Jeff is our field technician in charge of breeding and phenomics operations. He is a McGill graduate in Bioresource Engineering.

Dr. Robert McGee

Dr. McGee is researching:

1) Implementation of genomic selection strategies in pulse crop species.

2) Interspecific hybridization of Phaseolus spp. for enhanced white mold tolerance.

3) Genomic analysis of Sclerotinia variation and coexpression analysis in Phaseolus. Canadian Sclerotinia Initiative

Henry Cordoba

Henry is a PhD student working on:

1. Genomewide association of dry beans for quality traits

2. The impact of deleterious mutations in self pollinated species

Awards and recognitions:

• 2022. Best Poster Award. International CEPLAS/IPK Summer School 2022.

• 2022. Gerald O. Mott Award. Crop Science Society of America.

• 2022. Canadian Plant Breeding Innovation Award. Germination.

• 2021. Frederick Dimmock Memorial Fellowship. Department of Plant Science. McGill University.

• 2021. Best Oral Presentation. Bean Improvement Cooperative (BIC) Annual Meeting. Bean Improvement Cooperative (BIC).

• 2021. MITACS Globalink Research Internship Award.

• 2020-2021. Graduate Excellence Fellowship. Plant Science Department, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science. McGill University, Montreal, CA.

Laura Esquivel

Laura is a MS student working on:

1. Canadian Sclerotinia Initiative

2. Genomics of white mold disease resistance in common bean

Jérôme Gélinas Bélanger 

Jérôme is a PhD student working on: 

Soybean flowering GWAS and gene editing. 

Jérôme is co-supervised with Dr. Tanya Copley at CEROM.

Isabella Chiaravalotti

Isabella is a PhD student working on:

1. Optimization of genomic selection strategies using machine learning methods.

2. Empirical analysis of genomic selection approaches.

Monica Vargas Cedeño

Monica is an MSc student working on: 

Affordable Phenomics using using drone imagery

Bendable electronics for plant monitoring

Marysia Zaleski-Cox

Marysia is a MS student working on:

1. Canadian Sclerotinia Initiative

2. Genomics of white mold disease resistance in common bean

Olivia Clapp

Olivia is a MS student working on:

1. Genetic architecture of carbon sequestration in common bean

2. Genetic gain of carbon metabolism in common bean

Mason Jackson

Mason is a MS student working on:

1. Drone imaging consortium

2. Model development using drone imaging

Jennifer Lin - 2022 (MS)

Current position: Medical illustrator

Thesis title: The simulation of plant breeding scenarios in the common bean Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Awards and recognitions: Canadian Plant Breeding Innovation Student Awardee  - 2021

Lucy Egan - 2020 (PhD)

Current position: Research Scientist at CSIRO in NSW, Australia

Co-supervised with Dr. Rainer Hofmann at Lincoln University (New Zealand).

Dissertation title: Germplasm exploration and phenotyping in Trifolium species for the improvement of agronomic traits and abiotic stress tolerance