President- Kui Liu
Dr. Kui Liu is an a
gronomist at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre, AAFC. He conducted his Ph.D. study in organic cropping systems integrating perennial forages and soil amendments. He has experience in assessing how beneficial management practices affect soil and nutrient losses at the field and watershed scale by participating in WEBs projects. His future research will focus on developing crop management practices that improve yield and enhance ecosystem services and the resilience of cropping systems. He is currently involving in several crop rotation studies, where a systems approach is applied to understand the biologic processes and complicated biotic and abiotic interactions in intensively managed cropping systems.
President-Elect – Gurcharn Singh Brar
Dr. Gurcharn Singh Brar is an Assistant Professor and Wheat Breeder at the University of Alberta (UA) and an Affiliate Assistant Professor in Plant Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver. He earned his MSc and PhD in Plant Science from the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, completing his doctorate in 2019.
From 2020 to 2023, Dr. Brar served as a Faculty Member and Cereal Geneticist at UBC. In January 2024, he joined UA, where he continues his impactful research and teaching. Over his career, Dr. Brar has trained more than 25 highly qualified personnel (HQPs), supervised five MSc graduates, and authored 30 peer-reviewed publications, four book chapters, and an edited volume.
Dr. Brar has made significant contributions to professional societies and committees. He serves as a voting member of the Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC), Member-at-Large on the PGDC Executive, and Board Member of the Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS).
A dedicated member of the Canadian Society of Agronomy (CSA) for over a decade, Dr. Brar has held various leadership roles, including Student Representative, Western Director, and Secretary-Treasurer. His extensive experience and dedication to the field of agronomy underscore his commitment to the society’s mission and values.
Past-President – Harpinder Singh Randhawa
Dr. Harpinder Singh Randhawa is a Research Scientist (spring wheat breeding) working with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Alberta since 2007. He has more than 25 years of experience and knowledge working on the different aspects of wheat breeding, genetics, pathology, biotechnology, molecular genetics and genomics. His breeding program integrates conventional breeding approaches along with marker assisted breeding, genomics, doubled haploid and other novel technologies for cultivar development. His prime focus is to breed cultivars in order to improve profitability and reduce business risk for farmers and processors. His other research interests include the identification of new sources of disease resistance in wheat, genetic mapping, doubled haploid production, and new breeding tools. Dr. Randhawa has participated in the registration of 12 high yielding spring wheat cultivars (3 CWSWS, 5 CPSR, 3 CWSP, 1 CWHW) and three triticale cultivars for general production in western Canada. He has published over 80 research articles in international journals, supervises many undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. He has attended over 45 National and International conferences. He is recipient of the Gold Harvest Award for Innovation, Collaboration and Service Excellence from the Science and Technology Branch, AAFC. Dr. Randhawa is also a recipient of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) 2021 Gene Stewardship Award as an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada wheat cultivar development team for long-standing innovations and strategies to combat wheat rust in Canada and around the world. He has been member of the Canadian Society of Agronomy since 2016 and served as Western Director from 2017-2019. Since 2016, he has worked as an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Plant Science. Dr. Randhawa is currently a Science Team Lead for Plant Breeding and Pathology group at the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre.
Secretary/Treasurer – Kathleen Glover
Dr. Glover completed a degree in agricultural science from the University of Guelph where she majored in Crop Science. She then did a M.Sc. at the University of Guelph specializing in forage agronomy and quantitative genetics. Dr. Glover went on to do a Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Dalhousie University studying the genetic origins of tRNAs in plant mitochondria. Following her Ph.D. she worked in private industry conducting applied research in both field and horticultural crops and was subsequently employed as a research chair/associate professor at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College where her research focused on using nutrigenomic approaches to understand the effects of fresh forage and lipid supplementation on ruminant animal metabolism and productivity. She also worked with government and industry partners to help improve pasture management for grass-fed beef production. Dr. Glover joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Kentville Research and Development Centre (co-located in Truro) in May 2017, as a forage agronomist. She has over 30 years experience in Plant Science Research including both basic and applied sciences.
Western Director – Hiroshi Kubota
Hiroshi Kubota is a research scientist in sustainable crop management at the Lacombe Research and Development Centre, AAFC. He received his PhD in Plant Science from the University of Alberta in 2018. Since 2019, he has focused on developing agronomy practices that improve economic and environmental sustainability in both conventional and organic cropping systems. He currently has three focal research areas: 1) cropping system diversity – to improve resilience to biotic and abiotic stress in fields; 2) cropping practice diversity – to provide tools for producers whose goals are improving/maintaining yield while reducing negative impacts on the environment; 3) integrated crop management – to optimize usage of natural resources for crop production in an environmentally and economically sound manner.
Western Director – Linda Gorim
Dr. Linda Gorim is a prominent researcher and academic leader based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Currently serving as the Crop Unit Academic Lead and Assistant Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, she holds the esteemed WGRF Chair in Cropping Systems. With a Ph.D. in Crop Water Stress Management from Universität Hohenheim and an MSc in Agricultural Sciences, Gorim’s research program focuses on Integrated Agronomy, Sustainability, and Cropping Systems. Her work integrates crop productivity, water and fertilizer use efficiency, soil management, and pest control. Linda addresses challenges in translating superior genetics and agronomic practices to on-farm levels, emphasizing diverse crop rotations, including pulses, to optimize agricultural yield, quality, and input efficiency. Her research also delves into abiotic stresses, root studies, soil amendments, and nutrient use efficiency. By considering factors like water balance, climate conditions, and environmental benefits such as carbon storage, she pioneers an integrated approach for sustainable agriculture.
Eastern Director – Laura Van Eerd
Dr. Laura Van Eerd is a Professor of Sustainable Soil Management at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. The goal of her internationally-recognized research program is to advance understanding of how agricultural practices influence crop productivity, nitrogen availability, and soil health. Dr. Van Eerd was conducting 4R nutrient stewardship research in 2007, well before the term was promoted. This research earned recognition by the Canadian Society of Agronomy with the Best Paper Award 2018 in Canadian Journal of Plant Science. She has similarly applied those approaches to optimize fertilizer nitrogen management in sugarbeets, which was selected as Editor’s Pick in CJPS issue in 2021. Her innovation and foresight led to the establishment of a state-of-the-art long-term cover crop experiment that has advanced global knowledge on cover cropping in temperate climates. She has co/authored 75 peer-reviewed publications (>85% led from her research program; H index =26 Google Scholar), mostly in top-tier agronomy or soil science journals. She serves as Research Program Director for the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance since 2018. Here, she provides a vital leadership role in the province and the UoGuelph by ensuring that funded projects are agronomically sound and will have impact on Canadian agriculture. Dr. Van Eerd prioritizes communicating research findings as evidenced by over 135 scientific and 90 invited industry presentations. In addition to awards acknowledging her significant contributions to teaching, research and extension, Dr. Van Eerd was recognized as an Influential Women of Canadian Agriculture in 2020.
Eastern Director – Joshua Nasielski
Joshua Nasielski is an assistant professor of agronomy at the University of Guelph. Since 2019 he holds the “MacSon Professorship in Agronomy for eastern and northern Ontario.” Joshua’s work is centered on the agronomic research needs of Ontario farmers, addressing key issues in the cultivation of field crops prevalent in Eastern Canada, while making scientific contributions of wider geographic scope. For further insight into his work, visit the website: neoag.uoguelph.ca/.
Student Representative – Jeremy Irvine
Jeremy Irvine, from Yellow Quill First Nation, is a Master of Science student in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. He graduated with great distinction, earning a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan. During his undergraduate studies, Jeremy conducted research on plant vector-pathogen interactions through an NSERC-USRA and his fourth-year thesis project.
Currently supervised by Dr. Sean Prager, Jeremy’s MSc research focuses on the economic entomology of the lesser clover leaf weevil (Hypera nigrirostris) and its impact on red clover (Trifolium pratense) seed production in the Canadian Prairies. His work, funded by an NSERC-CGSM, aims to develop integrated pest management (IPM) tools for growers. Additionally, his research investigates how drought and changes in soil microbial communities affect bumblebee foraging behavior and hive dynamics. For his research excellence, Jeremy was recently awarded the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Scholarship.
Jeremy is actively involved in the academic and scientific community as a member of the Entomological Societies of Saskatchewan, Canada, and America. He also serves as an executive member of the Plant Sciences Graduate Students’ Association (PSGSA), advocating for graduate students and fostering connections between industry and the student body.
Passionate about supporting Indigenous scholars and reducing Indigenous underrepresentation in academia, Jeremy has authored an article promoting the integration of Indigenous Knowledge with Western scientific approaches. He envisions a more inclusive and equitable academic landscape through such efforts.
Jeremy grew up in Melfort, Saskatchewan, where he currently farms small grains and oilseeds.
Industry Representative – Dr. Jagroop Gill Kahlon
Dr. Jagroop Gill Kahlon, after finishing her PhD in plant science with specialization in Environmental biosafety of transgenic crops from the University of Alberta, joined Alberta Pulse Growers Commission as research officer. She has won several CSA awards as a student and was also winner of the prestigious WGRF scholarship. At her current job, she thoroughly enjoys being the vessel between the farmers, industry and researchers, and part of the larger industry that is working strenuously to bring issues of western Canadian agricultural research to forefront. She’s also lead for ‘plot to field’ research program by Alberta Pulse, where she and the team, researches and develops best management practices for pulse growers in field scale experiments across Alberta.
CJPS Representative – Ben Thomas
Ben is a Research Scientist in Agassiz, British Columbia with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where he started as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Lethbridge, Alberta in 2016. Ben has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His research has mostly involved carbon, nitrogen and/or phosphorus cycling in response to organic amendments, cover crop management, land use changes and cattle grazing, as well as soil health and edaphic microbial responses to long-term intensive management practices. Ben received his Ph.D. from McGill University in 2016, where he studied labile soil organic matter and nitrogen mineralization in manure-amended soils of the Saint Lawrence Lowlands in Quebec, while also studying nitrogen dynamics in poultry manure-amended soils as a Visiting Scholar at Trent University in Ontario. Ben completed his Master of Resource and Environmental Management at Dalhousie University. There, he studied how compost and fertigation rates interacted to effect fruit yield and quality in strawberry plasticulture in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley. Ben earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Prince Edward Island where he focused on plant science, food production and philosophy. Ben is now in his second term as the Agronomy Section Editor of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science. Ben is also an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Soil Science. Ben would like to hear your questions, concerns, or suggestions for improving the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, so please feel free to contact him.