Davis Plant Breeding Academy Instructors
Kendra Armstrong, Ph.D.
Dr. Kendra Armstrong has been working in plant breeding and genetics since 1999. After spending several years as a research assistant at AgReliant and (then) DuPont Pioneer, she earned her Ph.D. in plant breeding from Iowa State University. At ISU Kendra applied nonlinear modeling and QTL mapping to describe the genetic control of maize kernel growth. After ISU, Kendra went back to work in the industry where she focused on applying predictive analytics, computational biology, and operations research techniques to plant breeding and genomics to breeding programs in more than twenty crops.
Jay Patel, Ph.D.
Dr. Jay Patel comes to PBA with 33 years of productive plant breeding career at Corteva Agriscience (formerly DuPont/Pioneer Hi-Bred). He ran his Canadian canola breeding program for 26 years and developed many canola products, some of which became industry and market segment leaders. He also led nine scientists and canola breeders in Canada, Australia, and India. The hybrids developed by Jay and his team were involved in transitioning canola from an open-pollinated-varietal-crop to a herbicide-resistant-hybrid crop in Canada and Australia. In addition, he led the India Mustard Research team to develop industry-leading mustard hybrids. He was awarded the Canadian Plant Breeder of the Year Award in 2006. Jay received Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Punjab Agricultural University, India, in 1982 and Post-Doctoral training at the University of Guelph before starting his canola breeding career in 1986.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Gil, Ph.D.
Dr. Jose Luis Rodriguez Gil is an ecotoxicologist and environmental risk scientist with almost two decades of experience characterizing the effects of contaminants on the environment and aquatic systems. Jose Luis has worked with many classes of chemicals over the years but having completed his Ph.D. at the University of Guelph (Canada), a large portion of his work has focussed on plant protection products and agricultural settings. The large and complex nature of the datasets resulting from his research led him into the world of R, a subject he has been teaching at the university level for a few years, and for which he has received several awards.
Jovan Djordjevic, Ph.D.
Dr. Jovan Djordjevic is a plant breeder and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the global seed industry. His career began in 1996 with Monsanto France as a corn breeder, where he built a strong foundation in hybrid breeding. In 2005, he moved to Canada to lead canola hybrid breeding, playing a key role in transitioning the crop from open-pollinated to hybrid varieties. In 2010, Jovan relocated to California—agriculture’s Silicon Valley—where he served as Global Cucurbits Breeding Director for Nunhems.
Over the course of his prolific career, he has contributed to the release of more than 200 hybrid varieties across crops such as corn, canola, tomato, pepper, sweet corn, watermelon, melon, cucumber, onion, carrot, and leek.
Jovan currently serves as Director of the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy, where he mentors the next generation of breeders and seed professionals. He also chairs the Plant Breeding Committee for the California Seed Association.
He is a seed business owner, co-founder, and board director at Murray River Seed Co, where he remains hands-on in breeding watermelon and melon. He believes that passionate people, working closely with growers, can truly transform the produce industry for the better.
Allen Van Deynze, Ph.D.
Dr. Allen Van Deynze is the Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center and Associate Director of the Plant Breeding Center at University of California, Davis. He has a Ph. D in plant breeding from University of Guelph, Canada. As part of the SBC’s mission to serve as a liaison between public institutions and seed industry, Allen is responsible for developing, coordinating and conducting research and generating and disseminating scientific and informational content for the Seed Biotechnology Center’s and Plant Breeding Center’s educational and outreach programs. His research focuses on developing and integrating genomics into plant breeding of California and African crops. He has programs on breeding for disease resistance and quality in pepper and spinach, and development and application of genomics in crops. With Dr. Kent Bradford he co-developed and is organizer for the Plant Breeding Academysm and past chair of the US Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee. He has been involved in International and National policy including US Regulations for Biotechnology. He is an instructor for the Plant Breeding Academy(s) and Scientific Director for the African Orphan Crops Consortium.
Kent Bradford, Ph.D.
Dr. Kent Bradford is the Professor Emeritus, Department of Plant Sciences, and the founding Director Emeritus of the Seed Biotechnology Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA. His research focused on the development, expression, and maintenance of seed quality and plant developmental and growth regulation. He taught university and extension courses on plant physiology, seed biology, biotechnology, ethics, and philosophy of science. Kent received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Horticulture from Michigan State University and received his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from UC Davis in 1981.
Mitchell Feldmann, Ph.D.
Dr. Feldmann is an Assistant Professor and Director-Elect of the University of California, Davis Strawberry Breeding program and Research Group. He started his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis in September of 2015 supervised by Dr. Steven J. Knapp in the Department of Plant Sciences. His research interests include the analysis of quantitative traits, high throughput phenotyping, genomic selection and hybrid prediction, and evolutionary trajectories of cultivated strawberry Fragaria x ananassa. He graduated from UC Davis in September of 2020 and worked as the Genetics Application Leader at HM Clause in hot and sweet pepper. In May 2021, Dr. Feldmann started as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Davis in the Strawberry Breeding Program where he further studied heterosis, hybrid prediction, disease resistance, and fruit quality in strawberries using genome and phenome-informed breeding approaches. He has continued developing phenotyping strategies and statistical analyses for measuring and interrogating complex traits and complex trait variation.
Broadly speaking, the UC Davis Strawberry Research Group studies strawberry breeding and genetics; quantitative and molecular genetics and functional genomics; high-throughput phenotyping, phenomics, and measurement theory; resource allocation and breeding program optimization to support and solve existing and emerging issues facing the California and Global strawberry industries.
Whitney Lowe, PBA Program Manager
Whitney Lowe joined the Seed Biotechnology Center in 2021 and manages the Plant Breeding Academies in Davis, Europe and Africa. Whitney received her B.S. degree from San Diego State University and has a background in program management and hospitality, which reflects in the relationships she has with PBA students and instructors. She enjoys bringing seed industry professionals from around the world together to learn about plant breeding and help feed our world.