IN 2017, when the American Seed Trade Association put out the call for entries in its Better Seed, Better Life video contest, Katelyn Fritz was intrigued. An under- graduate from Iowa State University double majoring in agronomy and global resource systems with focus areas in plant breed- ing and biotechnology as well as Central America, she felt she had something to offer. Having spent nine months in Guatemala helping researchers start up a plant breed- ing program, she felt she could not only put together a great video, but help the world see the important biofortification work being done in the country. “In high school I got involved with the World Food Prize and from there I was lucky enough to be selected as a Borlaug intern at the International Rice Research Facility in the Philippines. I did two months there working, kind of going through differ- ent laboratories and so that’s where my pas- sion lay and where I saw my future going — working in biofortification,” she says. “I was lucky enough to meet the founder and CEO of an NGO in Guatemala and he welcomed me to come intern with them. I was looking at how to create a laboratory in the middle of Guatemala and to create a breeding program. It was a huge opportunity. I am so thankful to have had the time there.” She says her two majors pair well together — a pairing that’s taking her far in the breeding world. “I’ve got my technical skills from agron- omy and my interpersonal skills from within global resource systems. That’s helped me to see how I can work in biofortification. Global resource systems is an interdiscipli- nary major... So you could be going into international development, or working abroad and [really taking your career] to the next level.” SEIZEOPPORTUNITIES Taking things to that “next level” is a bit of a mantra for Fritz, who wants to pick up where people like Norman Borlaug left off and bring higher nutrient values to crops like wheat and rice. “I believe that we are going to get to a point where yield is going to be pretty stable. We are not going keep increasing yield forever, and we are going to see that we need to start improving [these crops] in other areas. Once we get to that point, we are going to start saying, ‘We need higher nutri- ent values now that we have high yields.’” Robert Allan is one of the people who ushered in the Green Revolution. Winner of the NAPB’s Lifetime Achievement Award, he was present in Guelph for the 2018 meeting of the NAPB. Allan, an accomplished wheat breeder who worked with Norman Borlaug, says the next generation of breeders is in a good position to pick up where previous generations left off. “To be at this meeting and see how many of the young people here who are here attending is really surprising to me, and it’s a very good thing they’re able to interact with scientists as well as each other. “[Modern technology] has taken a lot of the guesswork out of plant breeding,” says the 87-year-old. But, he adds, young breeders need to make sure they take a page out of Borlaug’s book and get up-close-and-personal with their germplasm. He remembers visiting Borlaug at the CIMMYT experiment station one day to find Borlaug in the field ay 4:30 a.m. selecting among his plants based on their kernel type. “That was incredible for him to actually look at seed samples of his F2 plants from various populations and decide whether he wanted to save them or throw them out. You need to spend time with your breeding material and monitor it closely.” Robert Allan, 87, worked with Norman Borlaug. Borlaug Scholar Katelyn Fritz. NOVEMBER 2018 GERMINATION.CA 17