Ryan Huffman Email & Phone Number

Boone, IA, US

- Oversight of all agronomic research activities including planning, execution, data collection, and production of summary reports. - Recruitment, supervision, and mentoring of staff and students to successfully execute agronomic research programs. - Lead continuous communication with research sponsors and stakeholders to communicate project status updates.

• Lead a data science team to aid in development, improvement, and commercialization of several farmer-focused products.
• Utilize a cloud-based computing platform to extract >750 million data points for input into a proprietary crop yield prediction algorithm.
• Provide technical expertise in agronomy, computer programming, statistical analyses, and geospatial datasets.
• Coordinate agronomic research projects with agribusiness partners and ingest proprietary data to estimate frequency of loss for novel warranty-backed Crop Plans.
• Optimize dataset and database management while establishing best practices for storage of current and future data.
• Identify opportunities with datasets to de-risk ag-technology adoption by farmers in all major crop production regions.

Johnston, Iowa

• Provided agronomic and product education to the sales team and ~60 customers.
• Managed ~10,000 scouting acres using the latest agricultural technologies including drones, satellite imagery and digital field maps.
• Analyzed corn and soybean field trials using Climate FieldView to evaluate new seed and chemical technologies.
• Investigated grower concerns regarding product performance and determined best corrective management decision to maintain profitability.
• Led a team of seasonal field scouts to provide real-time data and seasonal updates directly to growers through ScoutPro push notifications.

• Designed and directed complex corn breeding programs to develop novel organic corn inbreds and hybrid.
• Collaborated with internal and external research groups on a variety of projects which include grain nutritional quality trait evaluation and methods to isolate an inherit cross-pollination plant species.
• Processed and analyzed large proteomic data sets to detect unique polypeptides influencing pollen exclusion for novel gene identification.
• Performed in vivo and in vitro studies to derive insights on all agronomic traits of interest for organic corn production.

• Cloned genes and expressed recombinant proteins in eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression systems.
• Analyzed DNA and RNA sequencing data for genetic variations in genes of interest.
• Conducted in vitro enzymatic assays to determine function of naturally and synthetically produced proteins.
• Quantified polysaccharide degradation products using thin layer chromatography.
• Communicated scientific data to diverse audiences of faculty, staff, and colleagues.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Agronomy And Crop Science

Master Of Science (Ms), Biochemistry And Molecular Biology

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Plant Sciences