Joe Chen
Research Technician, Perennial Wheat
Jialiang (Joe) Chen grew up in Guangzhou, the southern part of China. Joe received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Agribusiness, Market, Management and Crop Science and a minor in Horticulture from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Joe also earned a Master’s degree in Integrative Plant Science from Cornell University, specializing in Plant Breeding and Genetics. Joe expressed his passion for agronomy through working in winter wheat and maize breeding and field management during his internships and working as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Desiree in Prof. Sacks’ lab, where he aimed to develop a local hybrid for flooding tolerance on Miscanthus as a biofuel crop by performing DNA extraction, PCR, and data collections in field trials.
Q&A
What’s most inspiring about your specific position at The Land Institute?
The company has a clear goal for the future, and the development of products or hybrids are something I’m looking for. Also, the value and the company culture are what interested me the most.
What perennial crop do you look forward to eating most, and how would you prepare it?
I always eat perennial wheat or rice as a main food in my life, and I just cook the rice with some dishes.
What else are you passionate about outside of work?
I’m enjoying playing golf and flying my drone in my free time.
If you were to write a book, what would it be about?
I have some background on economics and agronomy, so I would write a book about my life and how to apply my knowledge to real life situations.
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