4   SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA   SEPTEMBER 2026
7 Young Scientists 
PLANT BREEDING USED to begin 
with a simple act: find the best 
plants, cross them and see what 
happens.
The next generation is adding 
a few things to the equation.
Across Canadian universities, 
emerging plant scientists are 
pushing the discipline into territory 
that would have been difficult to 
imagine a generation ago. They 
are asking whether genomics 
can replace years of field testing. 
Whether a drone can spot a 
valuable trait before a breeder 
can. Whether wheat’s hidden root 
architecture holds clues to climate 
resilience. Whether disease 
resistance changes as soils get 
drier. Whether canola can be bred 
not simply to yield more, but to 
deliver entirely new kinds of value.
They still work in fields. 
They still make crosses. They 
still understand that every 
breakthrough eventually has 
to perform in soil, weather and 
farmers’ hands. 
But more and more, the 
decisive observation might 
happen inside a genome, beneath 
the ground, through a microscope 
or in an algorithm.
These seven researchers are 
breaking new ground in plant 
breeding. And in the process, 
they’re showing us what the 
breeder of the future may look 
like.
Building What 
	 	 	 	 Comes Next
They’re combining genetics with drones, computer vision, pathology 
and data science to tackle the problems we haven’t solved yet. 
By Marc Zienkiewicz, Seed World Canada Senior Editor
Luke Dojack still remembers when plant 
breeding first captured his imagination.
In middle school, he encountered a 
passage in Les Misérables describing a man 
whose hobby was crossing plums. Inspired, 
he began crossing morning glories in his 
backyard for different flower colours, spark­
ing a fascination with plant genetics that 
eventually became a career.
Today, as a PhD student in at the 
University of Saskatchewan, Luke is build­
ing digital tools that could make traditional 
breeding faster and more precise.
His research focuses on digital pheno­
typing in lentils, combining UAV imagery, 
computer vision, soil sensors, root imaging, 
microbiome data and artificial intelligence 
to predict nitrogen-fixation traits that are 
difficult and time-consuming to measure 
conventionally.
“I want to use every available tool,” 
he says, including GWAS, UAV and 2D 
imaging, field observations, soil electrical 
conductivity, beneficial microbes and AI. 
His goal is to identify genetic markers asso­
ciated with residual nitrogen while develop­
ing cost-effective methods other breeding 
programs can adopt.
Yet his experience begins in the field. At 
Paterson Grain, he helped manage small-
plot research trials, collected harvest data 
and mentored summer students. 
That background gives him something 
algorithms can’t: an understanding that 
every data point ultimately represents a real 
field and a real farming decision.
University of Saskatchewan professor 
Tom Warkentin describes him as tack­
ling “an innovative and challenging PhD 
research project” and highlights his combi­
nation of academic excellence, agricultural 
experience and leadership. 
That combination may define the next 
generation of plant breeders. Understanding 
genetics will remain essential, but so will 
mastering data, automation and artificial 
intelligence — and turning millions of 
observations into better breeding decisions.
A new way to see what plants are capable of — turning genetics, 
imagery and millions of hidden field signals into intelligence that could 
transform how the crops of tomorrow are bred.
WHAT HE’S 
BUILDING:
The New Plant Breeder: Part Geneticist, Part Data Scientist
Luke Dojack | University of Saskatchewan

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