b'These projects are laying the foundation for modern wheat breeding, not just in Canada but around the world, Hucl says.What really stands out to me, though, is his energy and initiative. Curtis has always been someone who takes the lead, and hes volunteered on all kinds of professional, national, and international scientific committees. Hes one of the busiest people I know, yet somehow, he still finds time to play in a rock band and help out on his familys farm.Busy is an understatement. Pozniak maintains a spot as one of the most cited academics in Canada, having pub-lished over 170 scientific manuscripts which collectively have been cited over 18,000 times.He has also contributed three book chapters and has been an invited speaker at many national and interna-tional meetings, including giving a TEDx talk at the University of Saskatchewan.The Future of Plant BreedingLooking ahead, Pozniak is enthusiastic about emerging technologies. Gene editing holds immense potential to decipher gene functions and their impact on traits across environ-ments. But its not just about the toolsits about the data. The sheer volume of information generated by these technologies requires robust computational systems to make it useful for breeders.International collaboration has also been vital to Pozniaks success. Projects like the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium brought together over a hundred scientists globally. Its this blending of expertisegenet-ics, genomics, pathology, and morethat really makes breakthroughs possible.As for his future goals, Pozniak aims to further enhance the CDCs capacity to deliver innovative solu-tions. Its about harnessing the latest tools to developCurtis Pozniaks Durum Achievements: superior varieties. But ultimately, its about our people and our impactproviding farmers with resilient crops that20 Number of years as a plant breedersupport sustainable agriculture and food security.22 Number of wheat cultivars hes bred for 4 different market classes1.32Number of acres his durum wheat million cultivars were grown on in 2023Watch our video interview with Curtis Pozniak atseedworld.com/curtis-pozniak-2025 $392Added to the farm gatemillion in 2023JANUARY 2025 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 23'