UGA Soybean Breeding and Molecular Genetics Laboratory

roger-boerma H. Roger Boerma, Ph.D.
Emeritus Distinguished Research Professor, UGA
Executive Director, Georgia Seed Development Commission, GA
roger.boerma@gsdc.com
(706) 552-4525

E. Dale Wood
Research Coordinator
dwood@uga.edu
(706) 227-7954
Coordinate field and greenhouse operation for soybean breeding program; coordinate winter nursery and cooperative testing with other programs; and assist in budget management for soybean projects

Postdoctoral researchers

Jeffrey Boehm, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics, Washington State University
Jeffrey.Boehm@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915
Genetic improvement of soybean seed composition and disease resistance

Graduate students

dung-ivy-tran Dung “Ivy” Tran
Ph.D. student
M.S. in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics, University of Georgia
B.S. in Crop Science, Vietnam National University of Agriculture
dtt12136@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915
Soybean nematode resistance

elizabeth-prenger Elizabeth Prenger
M.S. student
B.S. in Plant Sciences, University of Missouri- Columbia, Missouri
elizabeth.prenger25@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915
Genetic improvement of soybean seed composition

Ethan Menke
Ph.D. student
M.S. in Agronomy, Kansas State University
B.S. in Biology, Newman University- Wichita, Kansas
Ethan.Menke@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915

Brooks Arnold
M.S. student

B.A. in Biology, Columbus State University
Brooks.Arnold@uga.edu
(706) 227-7950

Visiting scientists

Shuzhen Zhang, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor from the Soybean Research Institute
Northeast Agricultural University, China
Ph.D. in Crop Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Agricultural University, China
Shuzhen.Zhang@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915

Like Liu, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor from the School of Life Sciences
Liaocheng University, China
Ph.D. in Crop Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, China
Like.Liu@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915

Jun Zhang, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar from Faculty of Agronomy
Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China
Ph.D. in Crop Genetics and Breeding, Jilin Agricultural University, China
Jun.Zhang1@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915

Undergraduate research

Hadley Figueroa
Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (REEU) Student
hmf32309@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915

Research staff

steve-finnerty Steve Finnerty
Research Professional
slfinn@uga.edu
(706) 542-8712
Oversee the nematode greenhouse and laboratory screening program; phenotype populations for soybean cyst and root-knot nematode resistance; and conduct data analysis

Earl Baxter
Research Professional
earlb@uga.edu
(706) 227-7952
Head up the cross pollination in the greenhouse and the field; managing all greenhouse experiments: maintenance of the Cold room inventory; data analysis; field planting, harvesting, and data collection

brice-wilson Brice Wilson
Research Professional
bwilso10@uga.edu
(706) 227-7953
Responsible for field breeding work, operating field plot equipment, managing research plots, breeding process improvement, result interpretation, and data collection from research plots

Greg Gokalp
Research Professional
gtgokalp@gmail.com
(706) 227-7951
Assist in development of cultivars through managing plots, field equipment operation and maintenance, field data collection and quality control, assisting with graduate research, and training and supervising student workers

Manuel A Mendez
Research Professional
Puerto Rico nursery manager
mamendez@uga.edu
(787) 430-6843
Isabela, Puerto Rico Manage Puerto Rican nursery operation for USB oil project

Ben Averitt
Laboratory Manager II
ben.averitt@uga.edu
(706) 542-8712
Nematology lab manager

Tatyana Nienow
Research Technician III
tnienow@uga.edu
(706) 542-0915
Responsible for marker-assisted selection for nematode, herbicide tolerance, disease and insect QTL, and process improvement and assay optimization, assisting in QTL discovery for traits of interest; overseeing undergraduate assistants