PERSONNEL

Prasanta SubudhiDr. Subudhi brings with him experience and expertise on conventional plant breeding, molecular breeding, and genomics in five important food crops: wheat, Brassica, sorghum, soybean, and rice. His current research interests are development of climate-smart rice varieties, genetics of aflatoxin resistance, development of corn inbred and hybrids with resistance to aflatoxin accumulation, genetics of domestication traits, and germplasm characterization. The ultimate goal of his research projects is to apply novel plant breeding and genomics tools to develop improved field crops with superior agronomic attributes and climate-resilience.


Ravi Kiran Reddy Kondi

Ravi Kiran Reddy Kondi

Ravi joined the Crop Plants Genetics Laboratory in Aug 2023 to work on genetic improvement of drought tolerance in rice using exotic germplasm.

Prabhat Rana

Prabhat Rana

Prabhat joined the Crop Plants Genetics Laboratory as a graduate student in January 2024 to work on heat stress tolerance in rice.

Rajat Pruthi

Rajat Pruthi

Rajat joined the Crop Plants Genetics Laboratory in August 2019 to research on the molecular genetic basis of salinity tolerance in rice and soybean.


Chanderkant Chaudhury

Chanderkant Chaudhury

Chanderkant joined the Crop Plants Genetics Laboratory in December 2023 to work on Genomics of abiotic stress tolerance in rice.

Benedict Labaco

Benedict Labaco

Ben joined the Crop Plants Genetics Laboratory in May 2023 to work on abiotic stress tolerance in rice.


  • Dr. Shofiq Islam, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Chenglin Chai, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Ratna Karan, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Niranjan Baisakh, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Arnold Parco, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Pradeep K. Singh, Postdoctoral Researcher
  • Dr. Venkata Ramana Rao, Raman Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, India
  • Dr. Sandeep Chapagain, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Lovepreet Singh, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Uttam Bhattarai, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Teresa De Leon, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Ramesh Dhakal, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Hanamareddy Biradar, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Dr. Alicia Ryan, Graduate Student (Ph.D.)
  • Ms. Diptimayee Sahoo, Graduate Student (M.S.)
  • Mr. Neil Parami, Graduate Student (M.S.)
  • Mr. Xiaobing Fang, Graduate Student (M.S.)
  • Mr. Pramod Kumar Panda, Graduate Student (M.S.)
  • Mr. Richard Garcia, Research Associate
  • Mr. Jonathan Concepcion, Research Associate
  • Ms. Sapphire Coronejo, Research Associate
  • Mr. Ronaldo Tapia, Research Associate
  • Mr. John Ontoy, Research Associate
  • Ms. Nongluk Teinsree, 2005 Summer Intern from Kesetsart University, Thailand
  • Ms. Kansinee Panwanitdumrong, 2008 Summer Intern from Kesetsart University
  • Ms. Carmin Beasley and Ms. Jackie Broussard: BEST Teacher Student Pair 2003
  • Ms. Patricia Beaudion and Ms. Valerie Traylor: BEST Teacher Student Pair 2005
  • Ms. Ruth Marisol Orellana, 2013 Summer Visiting Scholar from the Universidad Nacional de Agricultura, Honduras
  • Ms. Ana Borjas Artica, 2013 Summer Visiting Scholar from the Earth University, Costarica
  • Dr. Mohammad Mehfuz Hasan Saikat, 2015 USDA Borlaug Fellow, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
  • Ms. Ade Nena Nurhasanah, 2016 USDA Borlaug Fellow, Indonesian Institute of Science, Indonesia.
  • Ms. Marissa yurasit, Visiting Research Scholar from the Agricultural Research Development Agency of Thailand (January 2016 to December 2016)
  • Ms. Kanokon Yaodam, Visiting Research Scholar from the Agricultural Research Development Agency of Thailand (April 2017 to March 2018)
  • Mr.Juan David Jimenez Pardo, an undergraduate Visiting Research Scholar at Zamorano University of Honduras (January to April 2018)
  • Dr. Mostafa Abozaid, Visiting Research Scholar, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt sponsored by US Agency for International Development (March 28, 2023 – July 27, 2023)
  • Dr. Abdelghany Sobhy Saban, Visiting Research Fellow from Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (May 2023 to November 2022)