28 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2019 2019 | TOP 20 UNDER 30 ADAM BOLTON Adam Bolton has one passion: plant breeding. After starting in a forestry program, Bolton decided to take a hor- ticulture class, where his love for plant breeding began. From there, he knew that he wanted to pursue a hands-on breeding program, which led him to his PhD. Bolton is wrapping up his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his research focuses on abiotic stress tolerance in carrots. Carrots are the most sensitive vegetable crop, and Bolton and his collaborators are working to make carrots more tolerant to areas like Pakistan and Bangladesh, where there’s a lot of salt and heat stress. In the future, he would love to see more collaboration in the seed indus- try to get food to places where there are shortages. After his PhD, Bolton will join Syngenta Seeds as a breeding trial specialist in green beans and peas. Bolton says his work is rewarding because he can take it home with him — his dog, Penny, loves carrots and green beans almost as much as he does! ANDREW LAUVER Andrew Lauver is a face people are sure to recognize. As a former Future Giant of the Seed Industry, Lauver has been working hard to make that title true. Since graduating from Iowa State University, he has worked as a legislative intern at the Iowa House of Representatives and as the American Seed Trade Association’s gov- ernment and regulatory affairs intern. Now, he’s landed at Syngenta, where he’s the manager of Industry Relations. Lauver says his role at Syngenta brings together all of his foundational experiences he’s had. Today, he gets to work with growers, like his father and grandfather, and commod- ity groups like the National Corn Growers Association to help farmers and organiza- tions learn how to share their stories and answer tough questions around different policies and regulations. Lauver says the best piece of advice he’s ever received is to never eat lunch alone. Each week, he aspires to have lunch with at least five people. No matter their title, he believes each person con- tributes to the greater goal of the com- pany and without listening to someone’s story, then it’s hard to know how they’re working to create solutions. AUSTIN DOBBELS Austin Dobbels wanted to be a part of something revolutionary in plant breed- ing, so he looked into the cutting-edge technology of drone phenotyping for his PhD research at the University of Minnesota. Dobbels studies how to best use drones in breeding programs to help detect iron deficiency chlorosis in soybeans. In the future, he would like to see his research in the hands of farmers where they can use similar technology to help grow their own crops more effi- ciently and more sustainably. As an advocate for science com- munication and sustainable agriculture, Dobbels wants to see the agriculture industry work together with universities and farmers to have better education and outreach for the public to eliminate problems like pseudoscience and fear mongering related to our food supply. ALEX HOFFMAN Alex Hoffman didn’t grow up in agricul- ture — he was on track to be a profes- sional football player. After enduring a career-ending injury, Hoffman decided to pursue his MBA, where he was led to interview with Corteva Agriscience. Five years later, his lack of an agriculture background hasn’t hindered his career at all. He started in seed sales, which he says is the heart of Corteva Agriscience. However, Hoffman wanted to challenge himself even further, which led him to his current position as marketing manager of PhytoGen Cottonseed. While marketing is a step away from sales, Hoffman thinks that sales and mar- keting work hand-in-hand — if the sales rep doesn’t believe in the product, then the rep can’t sell seeds effectively! He works to make sure that everyone’s work- ing on the same wavelength. Hoffman says that if there’s one piece of advice to give to young professionals coming into the seed industry, it would be to show up, work hard and ask a lot of questions. In the future, Hoffman is excited to see more faces from outside of agriculture bring new ideas to the industry.