74 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2018 where you may least expect, says John Clarke, fruit breeder at the University of Arkansas and winner of NAPB’s Impact Award. He’s become known not only for his fruit breeding program that’s accomplished innovative things in the world of blackberries, wine grapes, peaches and nectarines, but also for his musical skills which are featured in promotional videos pro- duced by the university to promote new fruit varieties and featured on YouTube. “I was trying to envision another way to communicate with the public about our varieties. You know in fruit crops, generally you would go to grower meetings and talk and maybe share information about new varieties. Getting the word out is not always easy. Our technology in communications is entirely different than just cata- logues and meetings now.” Three Honored for Plant Breeding Excellence The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes distinguished long- term service to the plant breeding discipline through research, teach- ing, outreach and leadership. This year’s recipient is Shawn Kaeppler, a professor of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Kaeppler received his bachelor’s degree in genetics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1987, and his doctorate in plant breeding and genetics at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Ronald Phillips. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, since 1995 working in the areas of maize genetics and breeding and crop functional genomics. An overall passion has been understanding how genetic varia- tion results in altered phenotypes, and how that knowledge can be harnessed to make better crops. His collaborative team has made significant discoveries in crop epi- genetics, somaclonal variation, and crop genome composition includ- WHERE ON THE For video and audio interviews, plus info on this year’s NAPB award winners, visit seedworld.com/napb-annual-meeting-2018 ing extensive presence-absence variation. He has made important discoveries in maize seed size and composition, and maize abiotic stress tolerance. As outcomes of his research goals, he develops maize lines with utility to seed producers in the northern maturity zones. Donald Bockelman was honored with the Plant Breeding Impact Award, which recognizes an indi- vidual in the public or private sector who has made significant advance- ments in the field of plant breeding, specifically in the area of applied variety and/or technology develop- ment. Bockelman is a corn breeder who retired from Monsanto in July 2018 after 37 years of highly impact- ful plant breeding activities. Inbreds developed by Bockelman represented step changes in Monsanto’s product performance for North America and have had significant relevance outside North America as part of the global germ- plasm exchange. Equally important to his com- mercial success are his contributions to promote breeding for diversity efforts around the world and men- toring many new corn breeders and research team members. On the other end of the spec- trum is Jeffrey Endelman, who won the Early Career Scientist Award. This award recognizes a scientist in early stages of their plant breeding career who exhibits the ability to establish strong research founda- tions, to interact with multi-disci- plinary teams, and to participate in relevant professional societies. Endelman is an assistant profes- sor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and leads the potato breeding program studied com- putational science for many years before discovering his calling as a plant breeder. As a graduate student in bioengineering at Caltech, he developed computational methods to optimize the in vitro evolution of enzymes and spent many weekends observing native plants in the wil- derness areas of southern California. Endelman left academia for two years to work on small vegetable farms, by which time he realized a career in plant breeding was the perfect way to combine his interests. He returned to graduate school to complete a doctorate in crop science at Washington State University, and in 2013 he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to lead the potato breeding program. During the past five years, he has overseen the release of 10 potato varieties, spanning all U.S. market categories. Endelman has been active in training students and postdocs at University of Wisconsin, Madison. He teaches an undergraduate course on genetically modified crops and graduate courses on genetic mapping, polyploid genet- ics, and selection theory. SW John Clarke, NAPB Impact Award winner. Liz Prenger, Borlaug Scholar. WEB Donald Bockelman. Shawn Kaeppler, NAPB Lifetime Achievement Award recepient. Jeffery Endelman, Early Career Scientist. “We need to all work together for the same common goal to improve our agriculture system.” — Todd Campbell PHOTO: UW-MADISON.