People
Staff
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.
Postdoctoral FELLOWS
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
Graduate STUDENTS
Henry Cordoba
Henry is a PhD student working on:
Genomewide association of dry beans for quality traits
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:
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:
Optimization of genomic selection strategies using machine learning methods.
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:
Genomics of white mold disease resistance in common bean
Olivia Clapp
Olivia is a MS student working on:
Genetic architecture of carbon sequestration in common bean
Genetic gain of carbon metabolism in common bean
Mason Jackson
Mason is a MS student working on:
Drone imaging consortium
Model development using drone imaging
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT interns and research assistants
Victor Meng (RA)
Nathalie Rusu Sirbu (RA)
Sabrina Albert (RA)
Zarna Shah (RA)
VISITING SCHOLARS
Brigitte Guiraud
Cacao Breeder for Centre National de Recherche Agronomique, programme cacao, Côte d’Ivoire
Lab Alumni
Staff
Amir Ghoddoucy
Shamus McGuire
PostdocTORAL FELLOWS
Dr. Kritarth Seth (2022)
Current position: Scientist at AgResearch
Dr. Kifah Gharzeddin (2020)
Current position: Visiting professor at Carleton University
Graduate STUDENTS
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
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Yifan Ding
Marianne Beaulieu
Andrea Corkal
Characterizing anthracnose races in Quebec (USRA)
Camille Jones
Sarah Christinck
Robbie Brooks
Simon Poirier
Marta Dolińska
Genomewide association (Mitacs Fellow)
Jingyang Zhang (Mitacs Intern)
Neural networks in GS
Zijing Yu
Xinyi Liu
Pietro Cavassin (Mitacs Intern)
Parallelization of plant breeding simulations
Lucas Bertrand
Denysse Monterroso (Mitacs Intern)
Hoi Ching Or (Mitacs Intern)
Parallelization of plant breeding simulations