Student Seminar Series
DATE: Wednesday May 17th, 2017, 11:10am
LOCATION: MSB 1147 (Colloquium Room).
SPEAKER: Sean MacEachern, Data Scientist, Monsanto
TITLE: “Statistical applications in Plant Breeding”
ABSTRACT: Since the early 1900’s statistical analysis has had a significant impact on plant and animal breeding. The rediscovery of Mendelian genetics and the development of the statistical concepts of randomization, replication and the application of mixed linear models to estimate the genetic merit of an individual have led to dramatic gains in yield and other key economical traits. With the addition of genomic data and large phenotypic datasets statisticians and data scientists are utilizing Machine learning and Bayesian methods to predict the genetic merit of future generations to help further increase yield and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture. In this talk we’ll discuss the application of these and other statistical methods to plant breeding, some of their challenges and opportunities for the future.