Speaker

Mitch Tuinstra

Dr. Mitch Tuinstra is the Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research and Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University.  He studies how crop plants grow in stressful environments. Although farmers have faced the challenges of droughts and heat waves for thousands of years, there is mounting concern that changes in our climate may hamper agricultural productivity in the United States and around the world. Dr. Tuinstra and his collaborators are responding to these concerns with efforts to develop "climate resilient" cultivars of maize and sorghum that will contribute to the adaptation of agriculture to warmer and drier environments.  His research focuses on identifying genes and genetic resources that contribute to improved crop performance in stressful environments.  This work is done in collaboration with scientists and breeders in North America, Africa and Asia.