Carena at a Crops Field Day

MARCELO J. CARENA

Education

• Ph.D.   1999   Plant Breeding, Iowa State University (U.S.)

• Plant Breeding, International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies, IAMZ (Europe)
• Agronomy, Universidad Católica de Córdoba (Argentina)

Employment

• 2006 – pres. Associate Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, NDSU

• 2005 - (Sabbatical) Elected Visiting Scientist at the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, Rome, Italy). October – December 2005

• 1999 – 2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, NDSU

• 1996 - 1999 Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, Iowa State University (Graduate Advisor: Dr. Arnel R. Hallauer)
• 1995 - 1996 Postgraduate Research Fellow, Córdoba Scientific Council
• 1993 - 1995 Research Scientist, Spanish Research Council
• 1992 - 1993 Coordinator, International Course in Advanced Plant Breeding
• 1991 - 1992 Researcher, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, INTA
• 1988 - 1990 Teaching Assistant, Universidad Católica de Córdoba

Professional Activities

• Public cooperator of the federal multi-institutional U.S. Germplasm Enhancement Maize (GEM)
• Secretary/Treasurer, North Central Corn Breeding Research Committee (NCCC-167)
• Chair, 100-300 maturity group, North Central Corn Breeding Research Committee (NCCC-167)
• Executive member, Multi-state Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee (SCC-80)
• Coordinating Editor, Euphytica (International Journal of Plant Breeding)
• Editorial Board, Maydica (Journal of Maize and Allied Species)
• Chair, Maize Registration Committee, Crop Science Society of America (CSSA)
• Public representative at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
• Representative at the European Association for Research on Plant Breeding (EUCARPIA)

Research

• The goal of the corn-breeding program at NDSU is to conduct research in corn breeding for the northern Corn Belt emphasizing germplasm adaptation and improvement, inbred line and population development, and hybrid testing as well as training the next generation of plant breeders. The ultimate goal of the program is to release improved corn populations and inbred cultivars that maximize genetic diversity, economic return, and the life style of local, regional, national, and international communities.
  
  Our breeding program works toward releasing inbred lines and populations that are competitive in performance, drying costs (maturity), lodging resistance, drought and cold tolerance, and quality to those of the industry for not only ND but also for northern U.S. states and Europe. Low-risk hybrids for ND mean early enough hybrids having equal or better potential than late maturing ones and our program targets the identification of those products with priority on extensive testing. The corn-breeding program at NDSU has released and distributed diverse early maturing inbred lines and genetically broad-based improved populations to several private and public institutions, including major companies. Evidence of the usage of NDSU corn products is the annual request for them and their influence in the early maturity market. The common aspects associated with requests are early maturity, high grain yield and agronomic performance, high quality, specific traits, and most important new unrelated sources of genetic variation.