Louisiana State University
Adam Famoso
Lousiana State PI
Dr. Adam Famoso is the Associate Professor of Rice Breeding and Genetics; Louisiana Rice Research Board Chair for Rice Variety Development at the LSU AgCenter. His research is focused on developing new rice varieties for production in Louisiana and neighboring states. Rice varieties developed in the LSU AgCenter rice breeding program account for 70% of the rice production acres in Louisiana. A key focus of Dr. Famoso’s research activities is validating and deploying new breeding technologies within the context and target germplasm of an applied breeding program.
As part of the CRCIL, his primary focus will be on rice stress tolerance working directly with partners at The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). The initial project focuses on the fungal disease blast and will include the characterization of a BRRI germplasm panel for existing blast genes and prioritizing and transferring known blast genes across programs. To facilitate the incorporation of novel genes and alleles, suitable DNA markers will be developed for marker-assisted breeding efforts.
Jomar Punzalan
LSU Post Doc
Dr. Jomar Penzalan has a robust agricultural innovation and breeding management background. He brings over 8 years of private industry experience driving transformative and practical change in field operations, trial optimization, selection methodologies, and data analysis. He has demonstrated exemplary skills and a proven ability to influence positive change in improving breeding efficiency, agronomy practices, and data quality. His commitment to fostering a culture of continuous and incremental improvement has resulted in measurable advancements in agronomy operational efficiency, resulting in better decisions during advancement and product positioning.