Bio:
April Agee Carroll is the Nursery Design and Data Strategy Lead for Bayer Crop Science’s Pacific-West Trait and Pipeline Development team. Her team enables data-driven decisions based on genomic analysis, crop performance and operations. Dr. Carroll’s career has spanned academia, big ag, and startup,  formerly serving Purdue University as Director of Phenomics where she led design and launch of field and controlled environment phenotyping facilities, with Corteva leading integrated -omics/phenotyping, and with AeroFarms as R&D lead on indoor urban farming. April is active in various scientific innovation, outreach and education efforts both inside Bayer and externally with the North American Plant Phenotyping Network, Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation, and with Purdue as an adjunct faculty member. She has received numerous awards and was recently inducted as a Bayer Science Fellow, a company-wide distinction recognizing the top 5% of researchers for their contributions across R&D, and was also honored as a Distinguished Woman in Data Science.

Abstract: 

In modern agriculture, plant breeding is the engine that drives innovation in crops. Improved harvests, disease resistance, plant vigor, drought tolerance–but even in the most accurate and informed breeding programs, it can take many attempts to achieve a desirable trait. In one of the most transformational shifts in breeding history, Bayer’s Precision Breeding platform uses advanced phenomics, genomics, data science, and Artificial Intelligence tools to guide genetic changes. Breeders can quickly and accurately identify the precise changes needed to remove negative plant traits or emphasize positive ones, effectively designing corn hybrids tailored to growers' specific needs. In 2020, we opened our first fully automated greenhouse in Marana, Arizona. The approximately USD 100 million facility capitalizes on innovation advancements in proprietary seed chipping, advanced marker technology, automation, and data science. In this seminar, we will discuss how all of these innovations combine to deliver the best corn genetics in the industry.
 

Join us at 3:30 p.m. in the Marley lobby for refreshments.
The presentation will begin at 4:00 p.m. in Marley 230
A live broadcast is available via Zoom:
https://arizona.zoom.us/j/88614287572  Password: spls2023