Background
Basic and applied translational plant sciences are critical for closing the gap between genotype and phenotype in plants, in our efforts to address food, fuel, feed, and fiber security around the globe.
To this end we established the Nebraska Plant Phenomics Consortium (PPC). The PPC provides an environment conducive for translational plant sciences, merging faculty and Centers’ expertise in the areas of plant breeding, genetics, metabolic engineering, physiology, stress biology, computational modeling, along with optical and hyperspectral imagery capture and analyses. Importantly, the establishment of PPC is critical in strengthening our ability to translate technologies from the laboratory to the field to sustain a productive and resilient agricultural systems.
Mission Statement
The PPC mission is to provide the most up to date phenotyping facilities to promote excellence in plant science, to encourage interactions between engineers, computational scientists and plant scientists, and to help UNL advance their research objectives with advance imaging and environmental control in the greenhouse and the field.
Advisory Committee
The PPC serves as an advisory committee for the Plant Phenotyping Facilities, Agricultural Research Division (ARD) and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR). It is composed of IANR faculty and Center Directors who have the skills and knowledge in one or more areas of plant phenomics, biological engineering, environmental sciences, computer sciences, data science, and plant physiology. The committee plays an important role in providing unbiased technical and scientific expertise related to the development of Plant Phenomics Core Facility infrastructure. The committee provides recommendations for instrumentations upgrade and improvement, makes recommendations related to internal seed grants, provides recommendations on research and programmatic priorities, supports team science, develops policy for facilities use, assists with public relations, organizes symposiums and seminars, and provides feedback on facilities performance.
Committee Members:
- Tala Awada (Ex-officio): Associate Dean/Director, Agricultural Research Division.
- Frank Bai: Operations Manager, Spidercam Plant Phenomics Field Facility; and Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
- Edgar Cahoon: Director, Plant Science Innovation (PSI) Center; and Professor, Department of Biochemistry.
- Jennifer Clarke: Director, Quantitative Life Sciences Initiative; and Professor, Departments of Food Science and Technology, and Statistics.
- Yufeng Ge: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
- George Graef: Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
- Suat Irmak (Chair): Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering.
- Hector Santiago (Ex-officio): Assistant Dean/Director, Agricultural Research Division.
- Daniel Schachtman: Director, Biotechnology Center; and Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
- James Schnable: Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
- Vincent Stoerger: Operation Manager, Controlled Phenomics Facilities.
- Harkamal Walia: Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
- Brian Wardlow: Director, Center for Advanced Land Management and Information Technology (CALMIT); and Professor, School of Natural Resources.