Muhammet Şakiroğlu

Muhammet’s life revolves around perennial plants. He was born and raised in Eastern Türkiye, near Mount Ararat, the native home range of many perennial grain crop candidates, like Kernza and sainfoin (Baki bean). With a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Harran University, a Master’s in Plant Breeding from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics from the University of Georgia, the latter two supported by a Turkish National Education Scholarship award, Muhammet eventually landed at The Land Institute as a Graduate Fellow in 2006 and 2007. In 2009, he returned to Türkiye to work as a university professor focused on perennial crops. Muhammet’s career came full circle when he returned to The Land Institute as the Natural Science Research Director in 2025. He now fosters innovation, breeding, and agroecological development of perennial grains, legumes, and oilseeds, stewarding a team of exceptional researchers to help transform agriculture, perennially.

My most perennial trait: Persistence—despite many setbacks, I always return to the original idea of ‘perennials’ in research.

Muhammet Sakiroglu’s Research

2006, 2007 Graduate Fellow at The Land Institute