Inhaltspezifische Aktionen

Snowdon, Rod

 

 Professor for Plant Breeding, Head of Department

Research overview

  • Breeding/genetics/genomics of oilseed rape, sorghum, faba bean, wheat and barley
  • Improving response to selection with modern breeding technologies
  • Genetic and genomic dissection of complex traits
  • Trait prediction from multi-dimensional "omics" data
  • Structural genome variation and its influence on quantitative traits and crop evolution

Curriculum vitae

  • W3 Professor and Chair of Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen (since April 2013)
  • Honorary Professorship, The University of Queensland, Australia (2016-2021 and 2023-2028)
  • Honorary Professorship, Southwest University, Chongqing, China (2012-2021)
  • Honorary Professorship, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China (2018-2021)
  • Honorary Doctorate from Iasi University of Life Science, Romania (2023)
  • Speaker, International Graduate School IRTG 2843 "Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain" with The University of Queensland, Australia
  • 2011-2013: Senior lecturer (A14), Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen
  • 08.-10.2011: OECD fellowship, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
  • 2009: Habilitation in Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen
  • 2006-2011: Lecturer (A13), Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen
  • 2002-2006: Scientist (C1), Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen
  • 2001-2002: Postdoc, Department of Plant Breeding, JLU Giessen: Molecular breeding and genome analysis in oilseed rape
  • 1998-2001: Postdoc, Department of Biometry and Population Genetics, JLU Giessen
  • 1994-1997: PhD, Department of Biometry and Population Genetics, JLU Giessen
  • 1993: Six-month German language intensive course, Goethe Institute Göttingen
  • 1992-1993: Research Assistant, School of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • 1991: MSc (Hons) in Plant Genetics, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • 1989: BSc in Biology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Editor in Chief, Theoretical and Applied Genetics
  • Subject editor, Plant Breeding, Molecular Breeding
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member, Julius Kühn Institute (German Federal Institute for Crop Plant Research)
  • Scientific Advisory Board member, German Society for the Promotion of Plant Innovation (GFPi)
  • Since 2023: Member of DFG Senate Commission for Agriculture and Food Systems (SKAE)
  • 2017-2024: Member of DFG Review Board for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
  • 2013-2015: Chair, Multinational Brassica Genome Project (MBGP)

Selected recent publications

  • Schlichtermann R-H, Häuser C, Weber SE, Scheer L, Tietgen H, Welna G, Schiessl SV, Wittkop B, Snowdon RJ (2025) Enhancing faba bean breeding efficiency through insect pollination and smart crossing schemes. The Crop Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cj.2025.08.010
  • Afsharyan NP, Golicz AA, Snowdon RJ (2025) Pangenomic structural variant patterns reflect evolutionary diversification in Brassica napus. Genome Biology 26, 381, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03833
  • Augustine S, Cherian A, Paridhi P, Ugwuanyi S, Rashid M, Knoblauch B, Tzigos S, Pullamsetti S, Snowdon R (2025) Electrical current-mediated transformation for efficient plant genome editing: A case study in faba bean. Legume Science 7: e70031. https://doi.org/10.1002/leg3.70031
  • Wang TC, Rose T, Zetzsche H, Ballvora A, Friedt W, Kage H, Léon J, Lichthardt C, Ordon F, Snowdon RJ, Stahl A, Stützel H, Wittkop B, Chen TW (2025) Multi-environment field trials for wheat yield, stability and breeding progress in Germany. Sci Data 12, 64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-04332-7
  • Qian L, Yang L, Liu X, Wang T, Kang L, Chen H, Lu Y, Zhang Y, Yang S, You L, Yao M, Xiang X, Cui K, Guo Y, Yang B, Yan M, Xia S, Meng J, Lin T, Mason AS, Snowdon RJ, Liu Z (2025) Natural variations in TT8 and its neighboring STK confer yellow seed with elevated oil content in Brassica juncea. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 122: e2417264122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2417264122 
  • For a full, up-to-date list of publications please visit my personal profiles at Google Scholar or Research Gate

Contact

E-Mail: Rod.Snowdon@agrar.uni-giessen.de
Phone: +49 (641) 99 37420 / 37421
IFZ Room B317/B318