Anne Frances Jarrell

Anne Jarrell

What brought you to UGA? I came to UGA because it is an excellent school for plant sciences, I wanted to live in the southeast, and the graduate students I talked to seemed genuinely content to live and study here. Having a program like IPS that allowed me to rotate through different departments was a huge bonus as well since at that time I wasn’t set on what type of research I wanted to do. 

What are your research/study interests? My research interests revolve around the intersection of plant breeding and genomics. I love the idea of creating new and sustainable crop varieties that are a win-win for consumers and growers, and I think a better understanding of genomics can inform and speed up that effort. 

What has been a benefit of being part of IPS?/How did it help you select your program? IPS was hugely important for me coming into UGA as someone who had wide-ranging interests and wasn’t sure what I wanted to pursue. I rotated through 3 different departments so that I got a better understanding of the types of research, degree requirements, and future careers that were associated with each major. Being able to try out different labs was equally important. Each lab had its own culture and specialties, and I really liked being able to experience that and compare before having to commit myself to one. 

What are your career goals? My goal is to go into industry as a plant breeder or closely related role!

Who is your major professor? Dr. Robin Buell