Brent Hulke
Position: Research Geneticist, Since 2007
Hometown: Courtland, Minnesota
Education: B.S. in Agronomy (South Dakota State University), M.S. in Plant Breeding (Iowa State University), PhD in Plant Breeding (University of Minnesota)
Professional Interests: He is the research leader for our lab, and currently working as a Research Geneticist at the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Fargo, North Dakota. He aims to apply sunflower breeding and quantitative genetics to further sunflower as an agricultural species.
Hobbies: 
James McNellie
Position: Post Doc, Since April 2023
Hometown: McLean, Virginia
Education: B.A. in Economics and History (Indiana University), B.S. in Plant Genetics and Breeding (Purdue University), M.S. in Horticulture Science (North Carolina State University), PhD in Genetics and Genomics (Iowa State University)
Professional Interests: Genetic control of economically important sunflower traits
Hobbies: Dogs
Brady Koehler
Position: Biological Science Technician, Since 2014; Graduate Student, Since 2022
Hometown: Belgrade, Minnesota
Education: B.S. in Agribusiness and minor in Business Administration (North Dakota State University)
Professional Interests: Genetics, data analysis, and research related skills that help me to understand more about plants.
Hobbies: Biking, traveling, hiking, playing with Maple
Brian Smart
Position: Computational Biologist, Since 2015
Hometown: Wilmette, Illinois
Education: B.A. in Ecology and Evolution, M.S. in Plant Science, Master of Software Engineer (North Dakota State University)
Professional Interests: : Plant Bioinformatics, Agroecology, and Sustainable Agriculture
Hobbies: Biking, dogs, nordic skiing, gardening, state parks 
Zach Tarble
Position: Biological Laboratory Technician, Since January 2021; Graduate Student, Since 2024
Hometown: Maplewood, Minnesota
Education: B.S. in Biology minoring in Horticulture (North Dakota State University)
Professional Interests: Ag Ecology, sustainable agriculture, cool plants
Hobbies: Plant collecting, native restorations
Zy Tippins
Position: Biological Laboratory Technician, Since June 2024
Hometown: Austin, TX
Education: B.S. in Animal Science, M.S. in Horticulture
Professional Interests: Saving Endangered Species
Hobbies: Gardening, crystal loving hippy, house plants, books, outdoors, my dog
Abi Berger
Position: Perennial Crop Research Technician, Since April 2024
Hometown: Fargo, ND
Education: B.S. Biology (North Dakota State University)
Professional Interests: Sustainable Agriculture
Hobbies: Plants, baking, hiking, traveling 
Ashley Barstow
Position: Graduate Student, Since August 2022
Hometown: Battle Creek, Michigan
Education: B.S. in Molecular Genetics and Genomics (Michigan State University)
Professional Interests: I am interested in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. My research focuses on identifying important haplotypes to make predictions about sunflower populations and apply this data to genomic selection in the future.
Hobbies: Hiking, skydiving, photography, cooking 
Emily DeValk
Position: Graduate Student, Since September 2021
Hometown: Rogers, Minnesota
Education: B.S. in Biological Sciences (North Dakota State University)
Professional Interests: High-throughput phenotyping, engineering, and learning more about breeding sunflower
Hobbies: Kayaking, hiking, camping, walks/bike rides, music
Joseph Barham
Position: Graduate Student, Since June 2023
Hometown: Longmont, Colorado
Education: A.S. (Front Range Community College), B.S. in Ecology and Evolution (University of Colorado – Boulder)
Professional Interests: Genomics and bioinformatics, plant breeding, sustainable agriculture
Hobbies: Writing, cycling, fencing, cooking
Landon Johnson
Position: Research Intern, Since May 2022
Hometown: Moorhead, Minnesota
Education: B.A. in Biology, Environmental studies, sustainability (Concordia College – Moorhead)
Professional Interests: Small plot research, Entomology, Mammalogy
Hobbies: Bird watching, hiking, camping, cars, music, rocks
