Introduction (or a reasonable facsimile thereof)

[Just Me]

After lurking for a while I decided to register here, so here I am. As far as my background, I have a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, one in Latin, and I'm working towards a third in Agronomy. As a friend put it, I have more degrees than a thermometer. I'm interested in everything that's interesting, which I've come to learn is, indeed, everything.

Anyway, I hope to be able to participate in the discussions around here if you will allow me to stick around!

 

[TimeAsylums]

what do you do?

 

[Just Me]

what do you do?

Lots of things. As far as what I get paid to do, I work at a research farm in cotton breeding.

 

[JPS]

Those are three very disparate degrees. Interesting.

Do you hold any particular philosophical views?

Welcome aboard, by the way.

 

[QuickTwist]

You sound cool. I have respect for you.

Welcome.

 

[Polaris]

Welcome

 

[Pyropyro]

Welcome.

What are those plants in your avatar?

 

[Just Me]

Thanks for the welcome! Definitely disparate degrees, but like I said, I find most things interesting. As far as philosophical views, I'm pretty eclectic so I don't really fit into one school or another. I just kind of take what seems true from whatever I'm reading. The vegetation in my avatar is cotton plants.

 

[loveofreason]

Please stay.

I'm a plant breeder too, but I found studying plant genetics at university level far too boring. I'd rather just play in my back yard, like Mendel.

What's your goal in cotton?

 

[Just Me]

Well, I'm a lowly undergrad field worker now, so my main goal is not having a heat stroke in the furrows. Seriously though, we're trying to get stable varieties that are resistant to nematodes. There are some wild strains that have resistance, but they grow much more vegetatively than commercial varieties and are therefore much harder to mechanically harvest. As I understand it, we're aiming to get a variety that is resistant but also closer in phenotype to current varieties. What kind of plants do you work with?

 

[loveofreason]

Mm... there's an enormous genetic resource in the original species and the landraces of so many commercial crops. Stuff that humans bred out in our pursuit of gaining yield. It's a great work to be (re)integrating traits like nematode resistence.

But heck, I'm cold climate - I'd fall over in the heat!

I umm... could tell you what... but then

Oh, ok... um mostly geophytes - some with floricultural value and some horticultural. Big showy flowers are amazing palettes to play with plant pigment and expression. But disease resistence is the most important trait, I think. Everything else can be built on a strong a plant, over time.


Politically, I've been very taken with Vandana Shiva and her work to protect the rights of traditional custodians of gene banks... but I also support the right of any breeder to protect their work - just not to pirate it from somewhere else and then patent it. But I wonder where your employer sits on the spectrum. Maybe we're on opposite sides of the gene wars!

 

[Just Me]

Yeah, my coworkers and I often lament the fact that cotton doesn't grow in Alaska! I believe our heat index yesterday was about 102*F, which is actually fairly moderate for this time of year.

I never really knew much about ornamental plants until I took a plant identification course and plant propagation. I've always appreciated the aesthetics of the plants, but couldn't tell you the difference between a dianthus and a camellia, so that class was a good one for me. It sounds like really interesting work to play with colors and such!

As for the gene wars, I think we're on much the same page. The varieties we use are exclusively public varieties (my boss is a public breeder) so it's vital to us that those varieties remain viable. I had the opportunity to visit an entire 20 acre plot of different wild cotton varieties last summer. The amount of diversity was astounding! Some of the plants grew like small trees while others ran along the ground like a vine. These varieties are planted every year to protect the unique genetics that otherwise wouldn't be. Genetic diversity is a beautiful thing! We also have to test for and rouge any plants that contain GMO traits like herbicide and insect resistance. My boss took on the seed companies and got them to provide the testing supplies for all public cotton breeders in the US since it's their traits we're trying to avoid and it's illegal to save seed that contains any patented traits. It's pretty eye opening to see just how much cross contamination between our plants and those varieties actually happens.

 

[loveofreason]

I think hearing this (not the contamination bit, but the rest) made my day! I'm quite giddy that there are companies like yours willing to stand up for and work ethically with diversity.

Amazing - who would have thought that cotton was so varied? As much as I love the diversity in agricultural crops, I'm a sucker for pretties, so working with them suits me well.

Happy travels through the forum and your work!