Nicholas A. Email & Phone Number

Ballwin, Mo, Us

Ballwin, Mo, Us

Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, De

Helped to lead a team of data scientists on multiple projects (ML and Domain Specific) related to business-critical transformation of our genetically enhanced product pipeline. Assessed both scientific, logistical, and business-related issues related to soy and maize transformation and portfolio performance for growers and our commercial pipeline.

Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, De

Focused on stochastic simulation and MCMC modeling of the breeding portfolio under considered process changes and resource adjustments. Allocated resources based on data-driven insights gathered from stochastic simulations and pipeline analysis. Identified optimal placement of germplasm using genetic profiling and ML/Non-linear modeling. Served as liaison to stakeholders, managing strategy development and client expectations.

Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, De

Minneapolis And St. Paul, Minnesota, Us

I worked on a large dataset of Monsanto provided data that as provided to the Bernardo lab from between 2001 and 2008. This dataset of 1000 evaluated populations has previously been evaluated for optimizing different styles of training data for use in genomewide selection.My work in this data was twofold: The first is analysis of environmental data to establish patterns of removal. Essentially asking, is it possible to know a priori which environments will yield effective data and is it possible to obtain genomewide prediction accuracy with less data used? The ability to effectively target only previously stable environments would allow cost saving measures to be used in breeding programs, freeing up valuable resources that could be diverted to other projects.The second part of my project is the use of environmental variables gathered from public resources to effectively predict both environmental effects as well as establish whether we can successfully predict genome by environmental effects in any meaningful way. This means marrying two high dimensional data sets (marker and environmental covariates) in a way that is both high throughput, computationally feasible, and predictively meaningful.

Minneapolis And St. Paul, Minnesota, Us

Teaching Assistant for AGRO 1103: Crops, Environment, and SocietyTaught plant identification and agricultural utility to a lab section of 25 studentsCo-wrote tests and quizzes with the instructor and graded assignmentsGuided students in field exercises and crop walksTaught one lecture on public policy, law, and genetically modified organisms

Minneapolis And St. Paul, Minnesota, Us

My work in the Muehlbauer lab primarily focused on a collection of wild barley called the Wild Barley Diversity Collection (WBDC). This collection of germplasm, selected from the collection held at ICARDA is meant to represent the broad range of geographical and genetic area covered by wild barley across the Middle East and into Central Asia.My field of focus was on the powdery mildew resistance of this particular collection, genes that might be identified, and geographical areas of future sampling that might be sources of more wild resistance in the future. We identified new genetic regions for future study, but more particularly, identified lines with broad resistance to many different races, indicating a robust resistance to powdery mildew generally, rather on a specific race-by-race basis.This project involved intensive coding as well as familiarity with ArcGIS which was later to prove useful in my dissertation work. The primary reason for this being that we were dealing with 40 different phenotypes (each being a seperate race of powdery mildew the barley was tested with). This project also involved personal experience with powdery mildew in the greenhouse, testing, and evaluation of barley pathology. Population studies in Barley, Pathology, GWAS, Diversity Panel, R coding, ArcGIS, Geographic Analysis, Greenhouse Inoculation, SAS, Publication: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ppa.12384/abstract

Einbeck, De

I was given the opportunity to intern at KWS for a summer by my advisor to both further my dissertation work as well as gain valuable skill implementing code in a professional setting.My duties at KWS primarily were involved with implementing methods previously established in my work with the Monsanto data set, primarily investigating climactic variables, building a matrix of response variables for a number of environments, and then estimating our ability to predict environmental effects for a given hypothetical (or real) location-time environment.During this time, I worked with a number of datasets, including corn and sugar beet to establish that my method of environmental classification worked on a number of crops, and was not limited by the data structure previously associated with the Monsanto dataset.I also performed a number of introductory field duties that helped me gain familiarity with field breeding in sugar beets, and participated in a number of internal business presentations, as well as a field breeders informational meeting. I also made sure that the project was well documented and could be continued at the company's leisure after I left.

My responsibilities in the Whipple lab included PCR and chromosome walking using CAPS markers in search of the Vg1 (vestigial glume) gene, which is a dominant mutation. This included PCR, Restriction enzyme identification and ordering, and gel electrophoresis. Duties also included more in depth phenotyping of the segregating population that contained the Vg1 gene and specifically off-target phenotypes such as leaf width, length, development and senescence changes.

Provo, Ut, Us

Managed Intralibrary lendingDatabase management, Excel heavy autofilling and merging. Management of a team and route planning optimization.

Provo, Ut, Us

During this research work, I performed basic tasks for the Jellen lab. I prepared and performed PCR on a semi-daily basis. I also processed and performed DNA extractions for Felix Jimenez's work on the Amaranth populations. My duties also included preparation for cell flow cytometry, and I was also exposed to conceptual processes and theory during the development of recommendations for rescuing Amaranth from its status as an orphan crop.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Molecular Genetics And Plant Breeding

Master'S Degree, Molecular Genetics And Plant Breeding

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Plant Genetics