illuminata women shaping the future of agriculture

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Dr Anna Backhaus is working on pre-breeding for cereals at ICARDA. Her work focuses on accelerating the identification and introgression of useful gene bank material. She also focuses on using the diversity in the more distal crop wild relatives (CWR) of wheat and barley. These are difficult to assess, and crossing barriers are in the way. However, CWR introgressions have shown great potential in breeding for dry areas. She believes germplasm diversity, but equally in the workplace, will be essential for future crop improvement. Furthermore, She is keen to advance the application and use of next-generation sequencing data in breeding and pre-breeding.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.



Dr Batiseba Tembo, a skilled plant breeder from Zambia, is dedicated to improving wheat yields and combating diseases like wheat blast. She works at the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, focusing on developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. With a background in agricultural science and a Ph.D. in plant breeding, Tembo's research aims to address challenges faced by wheat farmers in Zambia. She is particularly known for her discovery of wheat blast in Africa and is actively working to identify resistant germplasm for breeding programs. Tembo's passion for wheat research drives her efforts to enhance food security and agricultural sustainability in Zambia and neighboring regions.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Dr. Jessica Rutkoski is an Assistant Professor and wheat breeder at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her mission is to develop varieties that will help improve the profitability of wheat production in the eastern part of the US. In line with this goal, Jessica’s scholarly research program develops and implements new ways to improve the efficiency of small grains breeding. Before joining the University of Illinois, Jessicaworked at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), located in the Philippines and at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), located in Mexico.

 

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Paula Silva received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Universidad de la República in Uruguay, studying barley and wheat genetic resistance to diseases. During her master's, she had the opportunity to do an internship at CIMMYT, working with Dr. Sybil Herrera-Foessel, Dr. Julio Huerta-Espino and Dr. Ravi Singh. In 2021 she completed her Ph.D. in Genetics at Kansas State University under a Fulbright scholarship with Dr. Jesse Poland. Her research included phenomics and genomics for curl mite, yellow dwarf and blast, three economically important diseases affecting wheat. In 2013 she got a job appointment in Crop Molecular Breeding at Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA) in Uruguay. In 2019, she was appointed at INIA to lead the wheat and barley disease resistance breeding program as well as the coordination of the Precision Phenotyping Platform for Multiple Wheat Diseases in collaboration with CIMMYT.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Samia Berraies was born wanting to work with wheat. Originally from Tunisia, she moved to Canada in pursue of the crop. In 2014, she received her PhD from a collaboration between the University of Natural Science in Tunisia and Laval University in Quebec, where she studied the genetic basis for resistance of durum wheat to Septoria Leaf Blotch and Leaf Rust. Currently she is a Cereal Molecular Pathologist at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre, at Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. In this role, shefocuses on understanding the genetic and molecular basis of resistance to several wheat diseases. This valuable information is shared with wheat breeders who use it in marker-assisted selection to incorporate disease resistance in Canadian wheat varieties. The impact of her work translates as substantial savings for Canadian farmers, enhanced crop quality, and ultimately, local and global food security.

About Women in Triticum (WIT): The Women in Triticum awards, part of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, recognizes and supports early-career female researchers and mentors in the field of wheat science. The program aims to promote collaboration, communication, and engagement among women in crop science, contributing to gender equality and advancement in agriculture.

Dr Sugandha Munshi is an advocate of gender equality and women’s rights in India. She has an intensive experience of more than a decade (12 years) working in the field of gender mainstreaming including research and policy. With degrees in Political Science, Gender, and Journalism from the University of Delhi, she specializes in conceiving, designing, and promoting interventions and policies targeting Gender issues. Her Ph.D. has been on Self Help Groups, empowering women in agriculture. Currently, working as a Lead Specialist, Senior Associate scientist in the Sustainable impact platform at International Rice Research Institute, she closely works with women farmers and policymakers in partnership advocacy on innovations and policy interventions in agriculture. She has also been recognized as an “Iconic Women Leader Creating a better world for All” in 2022 for her work on gender equality and small and marginal farmers by Women Economic Forum in India. Her new book entitled, “Women Farmers: Unheard Being Heard”, an evidence-based book celebrating women farmers in agriculture, innovations, and approaches to fill the gender gap is published by Springer’s Nature in June 2023.