Edward S. Buckler

Advancing Agriculture: Leveraging Quantitative Genetics and Genomics to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Emissions

Biography

Edward Buckler is a USDA-ARS research geneticist and adjunct professor in plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University with an educational background in molecular evolution and archaeology. His group's research uses genomic, computational and field approaches to dissect complex traits and accelerate breeding in maize, sorghum, cassava and a wide range of other crops. Having applied these technologies to over 2000 species, the Buckler group now is exploring ways to re-engineer global agricultural production systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ensure food security, improve nutrition and respond to climate change. With the USDA-ARS, he leads a program to promote the adoption of informatics and genomics tools by plant and animal breeding programs. For his contributions to quantitative genetics and genomics, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2014 and in 2017 received the inaugural NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences.