People

Dr. Famoso is an Associate Professor at LSU and leads the rice breeding progam at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station. The breeding program has a comprehensive field testing component, winter nursery, a SNP DNA marker lab, and strives to incorporate enabling technologies from multiple disciplines. Varieties developed by the program are widely grown across Louisiana and the Southern U.S. rice production region. Research efforts in the Famoso lab are aimed at identifying, prioritizing, and validating new technologies and approaches within the logistical context of an applied breeding program.

Dr. Famoso recieved an Associate Degree from Paul Smith's College in upstate New York in Urban Forestry. He then went on to obtain a BS in Horticulture from Penn State University, and a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Cornell University. During his PhD he worked in the lab of Dr. Susan McCouch studying the genetics of aluminum tolerance in rice. Prior to his position at LSU, he worked as a Research Scientist at DuPont Pioneer. His work was focused on implementing markers in the hybrid rice breeding program.

Dr. Angira is an Assistant Professor at LSU. His current research is focused on developing and integrating molecular markers into the breeding program. In addition to leading the marker lab and genetics research, he oversees the medium grain rice breeding program. He is responsible for planning field trials, making selections, and advances lines through to variety release.

Dr. Angira received his masters from West Texas A&M University and his PhD from Texas A&M Univesity in 2016, where he studied the genetics of heat tolerance in cowpea.

Chris is a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Adam Famoso based at Cornell University in the Lab of Dr. Kelly Robbins. His work includes analyzing historical breeding data, informatics, and assisting with proof-of-concept experiments.

Chris received a BS in Genetics and Agronomy in 2014 from Iowa State University, and a PhD in Plant Breeding from Cornell University in 2019. His PhD work focused on using genomics to improve fruit quality traits in a winter squash breeding program. He has experience in field breeding, molecular breeding, bioinformatics, and applied quantitative genetics.

Raul is a PhD student with Dr. Famoso. He is working to characterize US and Latin American germplasm for eating and cooking quality traits.

Raul received his BS in Supply Chain Management in 2009 from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master's degree in Plant Breeding in 2013 from the University of Wisconsin. His thesis focused on participatory breeding for virus resistance and shelf life with various organizations across Central America.

María is a PhD student with Dr. Famoso, working on strategies for developing and improving new breeding populations using genomic prediction.

María received a degree in Agricultural Engineering in 2014 from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. In her thesis work, she evaluated the use of different field designs and spatial analyses in sunflower yield trials. María has more than 10 years of experience in plant breeding and research, gaining experience in several different breeding systems along the way. She has worked in the rice breeding and seed production industry since 2015.