Jim Holland is a Research Geneticist for the USDA and Associate Professor, NC State University.  Born in Massachusetts and resident of many other places, he graduated in 1989 from Johns Hopkins U. with a BA in Biology.  He received an MS from Univ. of Wisconsin and a PhD from NCSU, then worked as an Assistant Prof. in oat breeding and genetcs at Iowa State U.  In 1999, he moved to his current job as maize phenomicist in Raleigh, NC.  Besides corn, he mainly likes music (Messiaen to Monk to Minutemen and more), literature (Dante, Borges, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, O’Connor, Tolstoy et al.), and food.

Jim Holland

Josie Bloom is a Biological Science Technician for USDA/ARS.  She manages the DNA marker/genotyping laboratory for the maize breeding and genetics group and is pursuing a Ph.D. in maize genetics. Josie is originally from Havelock, NC.  She has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Molecular Biology/Biotechnology from East Carolina University. She is an accomplished graphic artist, but had nothing to do with this web page layout so don’t blame her for that!

Josie Bloom

Team Corn ARS-NCSU

Dramatis Personae:

The Comically Inept and Distracted Boss — Jim Holland

The Minister of Laboratory Management — Josie Bloom

The Minister of Agricultural Field Experimentation — Magen Eller

The Post-Doctoral Researchers Hoping This Does Not Ruin Their Careers—

                 Mohammed Guedira

                 Randy Wisser

The Graduate Students Hoping This Does Not Ruin Their Careers—

                 Nate Coles

                 Magen Eller

                 Kristen Kump

                 Hsiaoyi Hung

The Cheerfully Laboring Undergraduate and Peasant Help:

                 Kathleen Starr

                 Teagen Gray

And we shall not soon forget the members of the Hall of Fame

Magen is a USDA Biological Science Technician who makes the field program happen. She is also working on her Ph.D., conducting breeding experiments to improve  resistance to Fusarium ear rot and fumonisin contamination.  She grew up on a farm somewhere in the hinterlands of Illinois and received her B.S. in Crop Science from U. of Illinois. When not harvesting, she likes coffee, chatting, and chocolate. 

Magen Starr Eller

Randy comes to us from Miami, FL.  His undergraduate degree is from Florida International U., and his Ph.D. is from Cornell U., where he worked with Rebecca Nelson (genius) on leaf blight resistance in maize.  Alas, from such lofty heights, he is reduced to working with Peter and me.  He is working on genetics of quantitative disease resistance in maize.   Randy is a graphic artist, DJ, and foodie.

Randy Wisser

Mohammed comes to us from Morocco, the most beautiful place on earth (that’s what he says, anyway). He received his Ph.D. in wheat physiology at Kansas State University. His research involves genetic analysis of a new gametophyte factor controlling pollen-pistil interaction in maize.  Mohammed is a great cook, house renovater, and drummer.

Mohammed Guedira

Nate is a Ph.D. student funded at various times by a USDA-IFAFS training grant, an NSF Plant Genome grant, and a Pioneer Hi-Bred graduate fellowship.  He is studying the genetics of photoperiod response in maize.  He is originally from Salt Lake City, UT, and received his BS in Biology from Brigham Young U. He spent a couple of years in Ecuador on mission and speaks impressive Spanish. When not running PCR, he likes U2, Maná, and has been known to eat food. 

Nate Coles

Kristen grew up in New York and Illinois and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was introduced to plant breeding in Jack Staub’s lab. Realizing that cucumbers are no match for corn, she came to NCSU in June, 2007. She is working with Peter Balint-Kurti and Jim on a project to fine-map QTL for Southern Leaf Blight Resistance. She is curiously less interested in food than the rest of us.

Kristen Kump

Hsiaoyi is from Taiwan and received an M.S. in plant breeding from Texas A&M. He traded in hot Texan wheat fields for hot Carolina corn fields.  He is working on complex trait analysis with the Nested Association Mapping population and on fumonisin contamination resistance. He cooks really good food that we cannot easily pronounce.

Hsiaoyi Hung

USDA-ARS Maize Breeding and Genetics at NCSU Presents:

You have surmised correctly, Kathleen is Magen’s sister.  She graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in May, 2006, and is working in corn part time while studying for a Master’s degree in Child Development and Family Relations.  She received her Master Pollinator and Inoculator certificate this summer; she has attitude in spades.  She also likes food, but can only afford to buy in bulk and mete out tiny aliquots of food for each meal.

Kathleen Starr

Teagen Gray

Teagen graduated from NCSU with a B.S. in Zoology in December, 2007 and joined Team Corn while she looks for her dream job, which will apparently involve the ocean, boats, and lots of fish guts.  Not corn. Oh, well, you can’t win them all. She is a great worker, so all you fish gut job bosses out there, you should hire her!