| Plant Scientists at the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation |
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Dr. Christina Walters is Lead Scientist of the plant group and oversees the seed quality program. Her personal research optimizes seed storage conditions to maximize shelf-life and seeks to detect early signs of seed aging non-invasively. She specializes in the storage physiology of trees and wild species.
Dr. Gayle Volk develops and implements improved management techniques for vegetatively propagated genebank collections. She is also co-coordinator of a project creating training materials for plant genetic resources conservation and use.
Dr. Maria Jenderek is a plant physiologist responsible for applied cryopreservation of vegetatively propagated genetic resources, improvement of cryopreservation procedures, and maintenance of clonal Plant Variety Protection (PVP) samples.
Dr. Chris Richards is a population geneticist applying genomic data to collection management. His work develops procedures to track accession identity, ensure accession integrity and identify useful agronomic diversity.
