Why I am a plant breeder- Dr. Mitch Tuinstra Purdue Agronomy

My name is Mitch Tuinstra. I'm a professor
of plant breeding and genetics in the Department

of Agronomy at Purdue University. This is
why I'm a plant breeder. Tuinstra actually

has a name and a meaning and the meaning of
the word Tuinstra is from the garden. I grew

up in a greenhouse production business in
southwest Michigan. Many of my relatives,

my grandparents, and my extended family are involved in plant production. So I guess it

is really natural that I have this love of
plants sort of in my DNA practically, in my

family name and heritage. I've been a part
of the Agronomy Department at Purdue for a

couple of decades. I was first here as a graduate
student in the early 1990s. I moved away for

ten years and joined the faculty at Kansas
State University and in 2007 I rejoined the

faculty at Purdue. I am involved in research
and teaching in plant breeding and genetics.

I have a 70 percent appointment in the Department
of Agronomy in teaching and in research. I

advise undergraduate students, I mentor graduate
students, and I coordinate and lead research

programs in corn and sorghum crop improvement.
Really my research boils down, in its simplest

form, to translation. How do we take the basic
understanding of science, as it relates to

genetics, biochemistry, and physiology, and
take those basic principals and translate

those in developing new cultivars that are
better adapted to stressful environments?

So my research program really focuses on developing
climate resilient cultivars of corn and sorghum.

But in recent years, as there has been greater
and greater concern about climate variability

and potential for climate change, not just
in the United States but globally, I've found

that my research program has become more international in scope. I expect that looking forward that

that will probably increase. As there is more
and more interest in, not just in the United

States but countries around the world, about
trying to adapt their agricultural systems

to better be more resilient to the types of
conditions that we are seeing today.