Popcorn breeder available for National Popcorn Day

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Tony Studer is a corn breeder at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For almost a decade, he has been working to breed improved popcorn varieties and using this breeding program as a way to engage young people in science. He has deployed a popcorn-based science curriculum in Central Illinois high schools and just received a grant to expand the program throughout the state and nationally. 

Biography :

Dr. Anthony "Tony" Studer improves the efficiency and productivity of cereal crops by optimizing photosynthesis and water use. His research helps develop crops that are resilient to climate change and meet the needs of growers at the regional, national, and international levels.

More information: Studer's lab studies the evolution, regulation, and function of the carbon concentrating mechanism employed by plants for C₄ photosynthesis. This process plays an important role in carbon dioxide uptake and transpirational water loss, and thus, has direct implications for photosynthetic and water-use efficiency. Elucidating the genetic control of photosynthesis will enable the manipulation of crops (through both breeding and engineering) to improve productivity and sustainability, which will be vital for food and fuel security in a changing environment.

Affiliations:Studer is an associate professor in the Department of Crop Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also affiliated with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), the Center for Digital Agriculture, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at U. of I.