Research Geneticist (Plants)
Dr. Rachel Naegele received her M.S. (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and PhD (Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology) from Michigan State University working with sugar beets, peppers and pathogens. She was granted her B.Sc. in Plant and Environmental Biotechnology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa after starting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and spending a year studying abroad at the University of Sussex England. She was a postdoctoral researcher at first Michigan State University and then North Carolina State University before joining the USDA ARS in 2015 as a Research Horticulturalist. Dr. Naegele moved to the Sugar Beet and Bean Research Unit in East Lansing in 2021 as a Research Geneticist. Dr. Naegele's research has focused on the genetics and breeding of abiotic and biotic stress resistant plants working from both the host and pathogen sides. She has published work on plant and pathogen population genetics, genetic mapping for quality, disease, and insect resistance, breeding and molecular marker systems. Her current work focuses on identifying abiotic and biotic stress resistance traits in sugar beet.
