Research Partners

We are co-investigators with researchers at these institutions, along with the lead investigator, Andrew Paterson at the University of Georgia, in a five-year USAID-funded project (starting in 2013) to use Sorghum halepense for the improvement of grain/forage sorghum in Africa, including improvement of ratooning and perenniality.

www.arc.agric.za

We collaborate with Dr. Alexey Morgunov, the CIMMYT program director, who is testing perennial wheat for productivity and longevity in Turkey’s local ecosystem.

www.cimmyt.org/

Dr. Matthew Ryan leads research regarding the agroecology of The Land Institute’s Kernza® perennial grain in New York state. His research also involves collaboration with farmers, millers, bakers, and other end-users of the grain.

www.cornell.edu/

Dr. Laura Gazza and colleagues are working in communication with The Land Institute on quality traits such as protein, gluten intolerance, and micronutrition of perennial wheat.

www.crea.gov.it/

The Gorrill Farm Research Station came to life in 2016. Located in Lawrence, KS, it is home to a significant expansion of ecological intensification research underwritten by the Perennial Agriculture Project. Ecological intensification focuses on identifying and incorporating ecological processes that can take the place of inputs like fertilizers or pesticides.  KU ecology faculty members Jim Bever and Peggy Schultz live on-site and serve as research coordinators. Laura Kemp, former Land Institute ecology technician in Salina has taken on the new role of Research Station manager.  The Gorrill Farm Research Station is being used by three post-doc research fellows from the University of Kansas, conducting experiments at this site. A fully-equipped field station laboratory is planned for 2017.

We are co-investigators with researchers at these institutions, along with the lead investigator, Andrew Paterson at the University of Georgia, in a five-year USAID-funded project (starting in 2013) to use Sorghum halepense for the improvement of grain/forage sorghum in Africa, including improvement of ratooning and perenniality.

www.icrisat.org/

We are co-investigators with researchers at these institutions, along with the lead investigator, Andrew Paterson at the University of Georgia, in a five-year USAID-funded project (starting in 2013) to use Sorghum halepense for the improvement of grain/forage sorghum in Africa, including improvement of ratooning and perenniality.

www.icrisat.org/

Dr. Jizhong Wu is evaluating perennial wheat for disease resistance. This work will provide important data for The Land Institute’s perennial wheat breeding program.

en.jaas.ac.cn/

We are co-investigators with researchers at these institutions, along with the lead investigator, Andrew Paterson at the University of Georgia, in a five-year USAID-funded project (starting in 2013) to use Sorghum halepense for the improvement of grain/forage sorghum in Africa, including improvement of ratooning and perenniality.

www.ju.edu.et/

Dr. Jesse Poland currently hosts two post-doctoral fellows in his laboratory to study intermediate wheatgrass genetics and genomics. He also supports high-throughput, automated, geo-referenced data collection methods for perennial grain breeding. Both positions are funded by the Perennial Agriculture Project in conjunction with the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation and The Land Institute.

www.k-state.edu/

Dr. Jamie Larsen is breeding perennial cereal rye and wheat. He is also working on the molecular genetics of perenniality, disease resistance, cold tolerance and agronomy in wheatgrass and perennial wheat. We exchange data and germplasm with Dr. Larsen’s lab.

Professor Lennart Olsson, founder of the Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS), and Dr. Wim Carton actively promote social and natural science research on Natural Systems Agriculture with perennial grains in Sweden and Sub-Saharan Africa. They partner with The Land Institute on numerous research proposals in Europe and in East Africa.

www.lunduniversity.lu.se/

This group of collaborators is field testing The Land Institute’s perennial sorghum in the tropics, with the intention of initiating a breeding program to develop perennial sorghum adapted to East African conditions.

We collaborate with Dr. Maria von Korff and one of her post-doctoral fellows, who are conducting whole-genome gene expression analyses in order to find the essential genes that influence the longevity of perennial wheat. This institute is highly recognized for the study of perenniality in model plant species and is seeking to transfer knowledge and technologies into staple crops.

www.mpipz.mpg.de/en

Plant Physiologists Drs. Alejandra Vilela and Damian Ravetta are studying the ecophysiological changes in silphium during the process of selecting for increased yield at The Land Institute. They travel to Kansas to work directly with Dr. David Van Tassel, who has also spent time developing experiments in Argentina. This work is funded in part by The Land Institute.

www.mef.org.ar/en/

Dr. Metin Tuna and his colleagues are evaluating perennial wheat lines for productivity and longevity. His group is interested in the cytogenetic characterization of wheatgrasses and wheat/ wheatgrass hybrids. Their research will provide important context for The Land Institute’s perennial wheat breeding program

www.nku.edu.tr/

This group of collaborators is field testing The Land Institute’s perennial sorghum in the tropics, with the intention of initiating a breeding program to develop perennial sorghum adapted to East African conditions.

www.nasarri.go.ug/

Richard Hayes, Matt Newell, and colleagues are working to breed perennial wheat hybrids, as well as trial legume-wheat and wheatgrass intercrops. We exchange data and germplasm with the department.

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/

Prof. Zhonghua Wang’s group is testing perennial wheat for productivity in the Loess Plateau, a region with some of the most severe soil erosion in the world. His group is also studying the impact of wheat vernalization genes on perenniality. This work is funded by The Land Institute

nwsuaf.edu.cn/

Dr. Steve Culman coordinates a multi-regional study on how simulated grazing at different seasons though biomass clipping influence intermediate wheatgrass grain production and total biomass productivity. Other participating institutions include The Land Institute, Colorado State, Cornell, USDA-ARS-Beltsville, University of Manitoba, Iowa State, Michigan State, University of Wisconsin, and University of Minnesota. Dr. Culman’s work is funded in part by The Land Institute.

www.osu.edu/

Prof. Liuling Yan and his post-doctoral fellow are investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying regrowth habit in perennial wheat. Nearly all the current perennial wheat lines show spring-type regrowth, which renders plants less perennial under stressful conditions. This work is funded by the Perennial Agriculture Project in conjunction with the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation and The Land Institute.

go.okstate.edu/

Research Geneticist Dr. Brent Hulke and Research Entomologist Jarrad Prasifka are performing field and greenhouse research to investigate the insect pests, pollination biology, and basis of heterosis in silphium. We exchange data and germplasm with Dr. Hulke’s lab.

www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/fargo-nd/rrvarc/

In collaboration with The Land Institute and the Missouri Botanical Garden, Dr. Allison Miller oversees the Global Inventory Project. Using databases supported by botanical gardens worldwide, Dr. Miller’s group is identifying wild herbaceous perennial species in the legume, grass, and sunflower families that may be of interest for new perennial crop domestication breeding programs. This work is funded in part by the Perennial Agriculture Project in conjunction with the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation and The Land Institute.

www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/

www.slu.edu/

Sweden’s SITES program (Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science) maintains nine research stations dedicated to long-term ecological research. Dr. Erik Steen Jensen, Professor of Biosystems and Technology, is the principal investigator for the SITES Agroecological Field Experiment. This experiment consists of four replicated cropping systems, including Land Institute perennial intermediate wheat grass (which produces Kernza® grain) grown alone and intercropped with alfalfa.

www.slu.se/

Dr. Anna Westerbergh is a plant breeder who is working to perennialize barley by crossing annual barley with wild barley relatives (e.g., Hordeum bulbosum). Anna is also evaluating perennial wheat and intermediate wheatgrass germplasm from The Land Institute for high latitude (~60°) breeding.

www.slu.se/

Dr. Pablo Speranza, who studies the population genetics of domestication in perennial forages, is evaluating the ability of silphium to survive and flower in Uruguay. Valentin Picasso (see Univeristy of Wisconsin, Madison below) is also a member of the Agronomy Faculty.

www.universidad.edu.uy/

Dr. Nolan Kane will be directing a graduate or post-doctoral student to begin characterizing the genome of silphium. This program will be funded by the Perennial Agriculture Project in conjunction with the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation and The Land Institute.

www.colorado.edu/

Dr. Kristian Thorup-Kristensen oversees the DeepFrontier root ecology research project, in which deep-rooted agricultural species are studied in aboveground root towers and with belowground mini-rhizotrons. Intermediate wheatgrass and silphium from The Land Institute are among the species being evaluated.

www.ku.dk

Since 2009, we have worked with Dr. Andrew Paterson, head of the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, on mapping perenniality and other traits in tetraploid sorghum populations.

www.uga.edu/

Drs. Jim Bever, Peggy Shultz, and Ben Sikes are conducting soil ecology work on perennial polycultures and native grasslands. Dr. Nate Brunsell is researching carbon and hydrological dynamics in perennial crops. Bever and Shultz are the research coordinators for the Perennial Agriculture Project (PAP) research facility outside of Lawrence, Kansas, near Lecompton. The PAP is a joint project between The Land Institute and the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation.

www.ku.edu/

Dr. Doug Cattani’s position explicitly centers on the development of perennial grain crops and polyculture cropping systems. He is breeding Kernza® and Maximilian sunflower varieties for Manitoba using germplasm developed at The Land Institute.

umanitoba.ca/

The Land Institute partners with the Forever Green Initiative to develop new perennial crops for the Upper Midwest. This extensive research involves genetic, breeding, agroecology and food science studies with Kernza®, silphium, and other potential new crops. More than 10 PhD level researchers are involved in the work, along with several graduate students. Many of these individuals are funded by the Perennial Agriculture Project, a joint project of the Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation and The Land Institute. Other funding comes from the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Legislature, Minnesota Legacy Water Quality Initiative, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and General Mills

twin-cities.umn.edu/

www.forevergreen.umn.edu

Professor Heather Darby is coordinating on-farm trials with silphium.

www.uvm.edu/

Assistant Prof. Valentin Picasso is beginning legume intercropping research with Kernza® and silphium.

www.wisc.edu/

Dr. Steve Larson, a USDA-ARS grass geneticist, collaborates with The Land Institute scientists to study the genetics of perennial grasses that are being developed into grain crops.

www.usu.edu/

Dr. Stephen Jones and his PhD students are breeding and evaluating perennial wheats as dual purpose grain and forage crops.

wsu.edu/

Dr. Fengyi Hu’s lab has successfully bred perennial rice hybrids for paddy cultivation, and continues to work on developing hybrids adapted to upland conditions. The Land Institute helps fund this work, and our scientists serve as advisors to this project.

www.ynu.edu.cn/