Davis Plant Breeding Academy Graduates Class IX

The UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy Class IX concluded their two year program with a ceremony and reception in Davis, California on September 12, 2025. The graduation event celebrated the 19 PBA graduates from 8 different countries. Jovan Djordjevic, Director of the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy, and PBA core instructors Kendra Armstrong and Jay Patel, took part in the event emceed by Allen Van Deynze, PBA Instructor and Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center which included a Keynote address by Bill Copes, former melon breeder at HM.Clause. The 2025 PBA Outstanding Student Award winner, Sujit Tha also gave a meaningful speech during the ceremony. He spoke about how PBA taught him to "Do Better What You're Already Doing", his experience in winning the Outstanding Student Award in Washington DC, and how he uses the Hindu Ganesha in his personal and professional life.

Before the Graduation began on that Friday evening, Jovan Djordjevic discussed with fellow instructor, Jay Patel, that all PBA students, including these outstanding 19 PBA IX graduates, “don’t only gain advanced breeding skills, but also leadership, growth opportunities, and career impact that benefit both the student and the employers”.  (view their video on LinkedIn)

Special thanks to Jose Luis Rodriguez Gil, the RStudio instructor for PBA, and the many outstanding guest presenters and to everyone who participated in the fascinating field trip visits over the two year program: Week 1 included visits to Syngenta in Woodland and a presentation and visit to Roger Chetelat on the UC Davis Tomato Genetics Resource Center. Week 2 featured Mitchell Feldmann for his presentation and visit to the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program at Wolfskill Experimental Orchard, Pat Brown and the UC Davis Walnut and Pistachio Breeding orchards. Week 3 included Ana Maria Heilman-Morale and Didier Murillo Florez’s presentation; visits to Morning Star Packing and Juan Debernardi at the Ralph M. Parsons Plant Transformation Facility. Week 4 included visits to the UC Davis Foundation Plant Services and Genome Biomedical Sciences Facility and a presentation by Luca Comai. Week 5 featured a presentation by Christine Diepenbrock plus visits to Sakata Seed America and HM.Clause and a presentation by Chris Cotter with Kendra Armstrong. Finally, Week 6 featured presentations by Travis Bliss and Stephany Small, Jaap Hoogstraten, and Klaus Koehler, plus visits to the UC Davis fields with Christine Diepenbrock’s team, Charlie Brummer’s team and Allen Van Deynze’s team; visit to the MARS Greenhouse. Week 6 was rounded out with presentations from SBC’s own Kent Bradford, Kelley Clark and Imtiyaz Khanday as well. Many thanks to you all! 

We wish all the best to our PBA IX class and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish. We also look forward to welcoming the new students of PBA Class X, which will beginin February 2026. 

If you are interested in joining PBA Class X:
Click here to learn more and apply

Click here to view the list of PBA IX Graduates