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Dr. Brayden Blanchard is an Assistant Professor of Sugarcane Breeding and Quantitative Genetics at the LSU AgCenter. He grew up on a sugarcane farm in St. Martinville, Louisiana, before he moved to Baton Rouge to pursue his B.S. in Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences with a concentration in Crop Science from LSU. After receiving his B.S. in 2019, he began a graduate program in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences in Agronomy – Plant Breeding. He received his Ph.D. in 2024 and began as an LSU faculty member at the Sugar Research Station.
Dulis Duron is a Research Associate and High-Throughput Phenotyping specialist engaged in projects to enhance the selection accuracy of breeding trials. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Sciences and a Master's degree in Digital Agriculture, with a minor in statistics, focusing on drone and satellite imagery and spatial analysis. His research focuses on UAV-generated imagery that can help differentiate the agronomic performance of varieties in early-stage trials. He also explores avenues of ground-based sensor technologies for measuring traits of interest. His work will assess multiple cutting-edge technologies for which may be most effective in sugarcane as well as where they fit within the current breeding program.
Zachary Taylor is a Research Coordinator at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station involved in conducting variety trials and various breeding optimization projects. He holds a Batchelor’s degree in Environmental Biology and a Master’s degree in Plant Breeding. He develops and maintains various software tools for the SBQG lab including a cross planning application (SucroX) and a pedigree tracking application (CaneCestry). He also explores alternative technologies for data management and analytics and high-throughput phenotyping.
Thanyachanok “Tanya” Sutthanonkul is a graduate student in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences under the guidance of Drs. Collins Kimbeng (Sugarcane Breeder), Tri Setiyono (Precision and Digital Agriculture), and Blanchard. Her project titled “Yield Prediction of Sugarcane Using UAV-based Remote Sensing and Vegetation Indices” explores both commercial and breeding applications of UAVs to measure traits of interest. With a Master’s degree in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, her background complements her current Ph.D. work in combining UAVs with machine learning prediction approaches.
Badr Ghosn – May 2024 College of Agriculture – B.S. Sustainable Production Systems Graduate
Andrew Bonaventure – May 2025 College of Agriculture B.S. Sustainable Production Systems Graduate
Cole Lacombe - May 2025 College of Agriculture B.S. Sustainable Production Systems Graduate
Campbell Earles – anticipated graduation May 2027 College of Agriculture B.S. Agribusiness
Luke Viator – anticipated graduation 2028 College of Agriculture B.S. Sustainable Production Systems
Collins Kimbeng, Ph.D. – Professor / Sugarcane Breeder
Dr. Collins Kimbeng is a Professor and Sugarcane Breeder at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station. Originally from Cameroon, Africa, Dr. Kimbeng received his B.S. in Botany at the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria and his M.S. in Plant Breeding from the same university before receiving a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Kimbeng maintains responsibilities as the Head Sugarcane Breeder at the LSU AgCenter where he conducts a sugarcane breeding program through collaborations with the USDA-ARS and the American Sugarcane League to develop high-yielding, disease-resistant sugarcane cultivars for the growers in Louisiana and beyond.
Niranjan Baisakh, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Functional Genomics
Dr. Niranjan Baisakh is a Professor in the area of Molecular Biology and Functional Genomics in the LSU School of Plant, Environmental Management, and Soil Sciences. He received his B.S. in Agriculture and M.S. in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in India before receiving his Ph.D. in Botany – Plant Biotechnology at Utkal University in India. Dr. Baisakh has been an integral part of the sugarcane breeding effort at LSU, filling the gaps in our understanding of the genetic background and architecture of the traits of interest within our germplasm while laying the foundation for the future incorporation of genomics applications such as marker-assisted and genomic selection in sugarcane.
