Careers
Plant breeding is an exciting and evolving field! There is a very high demand in the US and throughout the world for employees at all education levels in plant breeding. The terminal degree for the field is a PhD. As graduate education is a research degree, a living stipend, tuition, and health care are usually provided by the supervisory professor or department. Finances should not be a barrier to obtaining an advanced degree in plant breeding.
A closely allied carreer as a "Plant Geneticist" might also be of interest
Many opportunities exist for internships, or experience to decide if this is the right career for you. We are not currently maintaining an extensive list but plan to implement this in the future.
Education opportunities (not extensive)
Internships
Graduate Schools
- U.S. Universities (List)
- Assistantships / Fellowships available
- Assistantships / Fellowships available (courtesy of Todd Wehner)
- Illinois IPBC fellowship
- Texas A&M Monsanto Graduate Assistantship
- Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program
- American Society for Horticultural Science
- Crop Science Society of America
- Forest Tree Genome Database
- U.S. Land Grant Universities (List)
- Crops for Health, Colorado State University
- Pioneer Hi-Bred Honorary Plant Breeding Fellowships
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Graduate student awards
- Other sites:
- American Society for Horticultural Science
- Crop Science Society of America
- Illinois Corn Breeders School
- Forest Tree Genome Database
- U.S. Land Grant Universities (List)
- Largest plant breeding training schools (alphabetical order):
Programs
School
Location
Plant Breeding Department Cornell University Ithaca NY Iowa State University Ames IA Plant Breeding Program Michigan State University East Lansing MI Forestry /
North Carolina State University Raleigh NC Plant Breeding Program North Dakota State University Fargo ND Oregon State University Corvallis OR Agronomy /
Texas A&M University College Station TX Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics University of Georgia Athens GA University of Illinois Urbana IL Agronomic Plant Breeding University of Minnesota St.Paul MN Plant Breeding Program University of Nebraska Lincoln NE Plant Breeding Program University of Wisconsin Madison WI
Continuing education opportunities in Plant Breeding and Genetics (updated June, 2011) |
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Online courses and degree programs |
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Item |
Institution |
Comment |
Link |
Plant Breeding Academy |
University of California-Davis |
Two-year professional development course to teach the principles of plant breeding to seed industry personnel |
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Master of Science in Plant Breeding |
Iowa State University |
Curriculum consists of 12 courses, a workshop, and a creative component. |
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| Master of Science in Plant Breeding, Thesis and Non-Thesis Option | Texas A&M University | NTO – 36 semester credit hours including internship; TO – 32 semester credit hours including original research project | http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/distance-education/ |
Online M.S. Degree in Crop Sciences |
University of Illinois |
A variety of courses are offered, including Principles of Plant Breeding |
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Online Crop Breeding Courses |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
Credit or non-credit courses, each lasting 4 to 5 weeks, offered in Fall, 2011 and Spring, 2012 |
http://cariregistration.unl.edu/CourseStatus.awp?&course=AGCBBBONLINE |
Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance |
Colorado State University |
1-credit graduate level online course offered in Fall, 2013 |
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North Carolina State University |
Graduate level course offered in Fall, 2011 |
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Plant Breeding |
Acsedu.com, a British site |
Introductory level course, approximately 100 hours duration |
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Workshops/Short courses |
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Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance |
Colorado State University |
Field-oriented graduate level short course, 3 credits, offered in June, 2012 |
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Plant Exploration and Collecting: the ethics, the process, and world laws |
Cornell University, Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center |
3-week travel course in Chile, offered in January, 2012 |
Contact Dr. Mark Bridgen, mpb27@cornell.edu |
Illinois Corn Breeders’ School |
University of Illinois |
2 day course on the latest research in maize breeding |
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Breeding with Markers |
University of California-Davis |
2-day course aimed at breeders |
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Seed Business 101 |
University of California-Davis |
1 week case study course covering research, development, marketing and sales in the seed business |
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Seed Biology, Production and Quality |
University of California-Davis |
2-day course aimed at breeders and seed production personnel |
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Teaching resources |
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Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary |
University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
Extensive list of lessons and animations, including plant breeding and genetics topics |
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McClintock Web Site |
Generation Challenge Programme |
Introductory online course on bioinformatics, including sequence analysis, QTL analysis, MAS, candidate gene discovery, and more. |
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Plant breeding Lectures and Seminars |
North Carolina State University |
Narrated PowerPoint lectures on plant breeding and quantitative genetics by Dr. Paul Murphy, wheat breeder at NC State |
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Early / Mid / Late Career opportunities
- Assistantships / Fellowships
List of potential careers / employers
Plant Breeding Job Postings / Resume Service
Private, Commercial (Worldwide)
Seed Companies
- American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
- National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders (NCCPB)
- Seedquest (Seed Industry Jobs)
Public International Agricultural Research Centers
- Bioversity International (Plant Genetic Resources) (formerly IPGRI)
- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
- International Center for Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT)
- International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
- International Potato Center (CIP)
- International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
Public National
- U.S. Dept. Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS)
- Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
- Carreer as a Plant Geneticist
Public State
Not for Profit
Plant Breeders of Interest and Brief Biographies
- Norman Borlaug, wheat breeder
- Royce Bringhust, strawberry breeder
- Glenn Burton, forage and turfgrass breeder (National acadamy memoir, news item 1, news item 2)
- Jorge Dubcovsky, wheat breeder (lab website)
- Henry Munger, vegetable breeder
- Watermelon breeders
Collection of interviews with industry leaders Giant Views at SeedWorld