14 GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2018 IF IT WASN’T FOR the Boy Scouts, Andrew Herr may never have become a plant breeder. It was his experience in Scouts that gave him an apprecia- tion for the natural world. “In Scouting there’s a lot of camp- ing and the outdoors. Scouting gave me a lot of respect for nature and the world we live in and how wild it is and that we have to respect the earth. As kids we often are taught to follow, but in Scouting we are given a chance to show our potential [as leaders].” Now an undergraduate at Iowa State University majoring in agronomy, Eagle Scout Herr is currently con- ducting undergraduate research that uses image analysis to extract corn root phenotypes for use in genomic prediction. “They are the foundation of the plant, and if we can understand what traits make a healthy roots system, we can hopefully boost yields and have a more reliable crop for the consumer and farmer.” If roots are the foundation of a plant, then for Herr, his Christian faith serves as the foundation for not only his life, but his work as well. He’s actively involved with his campus ministry, The Salt Company. Roughly 1,300 students attend its weekly large group gathering, according to its website. “In today’s society there’s a lean- ing toward thinking faith and science don’t mesh and you can’t have both. Both my faith and the science I study tell me that’s exactly the opposite. The world we live in and the nature and biology we see are good indica- tors of God’s creation,” Herr says. Herr’s appreciation of the beauty of the natural world is what inspires This, despite not having a plant breeding background. “I’m from Indiana, and I have no crop background whatsoever — mostly livestock. In high school I really enjoyed learning about plants and how they interact with their envi- ronment. Iowa State really appealed to me. In Iowa there’s a lot of corn, so I’ve had the pleasure of digging up lots of roots and looking at them,” he says. Robert Duncan is a brassica breeder at the University of Manitoba and winner of the NAPB’s Early Career Scientist Award. Like Herr, he didn’t have experience in plant breeding when he began his studies. “While I was working toward my agronomy degree, I didn’t know the area I wanted to pursue. I had several jobs, including a job at BASF and Proven Seed, and focused on pest management and variety compari- son trials before I discovered I really enjoyed plant pathology.” During his master’s program, Duncan realized one of the best methods to manage plant disease was through plant breeding and host resistance. This led him to the University of California, Davis, for his PhD, where he focused on breed- ing for disease resistance in dark red kidney beans. Without much experience in plant breeding, Duncan wishes he had known one thing in his early career: “Such a small percentage of your crosses produce new cultivars or actually become commercial prod- ucts — either the parents didn’t get combined well or the hybrid didn’t have the trait you wanted. There is a lot of failure for each new cultivar registered.” Robert Duncan, Manitoba brassica breeder. HAVEALITTLEFAITH him to keep learning about agron- omy and use his knowledge to benefit humanity — and have faith that good things will continue to be achieved for the world through plant breeding. “I want young people to appre- ciate the importance of agronomy. In the long term, I think breeding is well established in the U.S. and Canada, but there’s a huge need in different parts of the world.” Borlaug Scholar Andrew Herr. ON LOCATION: NAPB 2018 • GUELPH, ON