Eric Bishop von Wettberg
Chair, Department of Animal and Veterinary Science
Director, VT Agricultural Experiment Station
Professor
Faculty Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment
63 Carrigan Drive
211 Jeffords
Burlington, VT 05405
United States
- Ph.D., Ecology and Evolution, Brown University - Providence RI
- B.A., Biology, Swarthmore College - Swarthmore PA
VT Agricultural Experiment Station
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Gund Institute for the Environment
JOURNALISTS: Need help scheduling an interview? Contact UVM media relations or search for a UVM expert.
Areas of expertise
- Crop genetics, evolution, genomics, breeding, domestication and sustainability
- Legumes and germplasm
- Animal grazing and sustainability
- Agriculture, food, ecology, conservation
BIO
Eric von Wettberg's laboratory group, the Crop Genetic Heritage Laboratory, studies the consequences of population bottlenecks for adaptation to harsh environments, merging approaches from genomics and evolutionary ecology. A great many crops are deficient in genetic diversity as a result of extreme population bottlenecks resulting from domestication and breeding. This limits their capacity for adaptation to new or altered habitats. Understanding the consequences of domestication and breeding bottlenecks can help us develop more resilient crops to weather extremes. They aim to examine the evolutionary ecology of wild relatives of crops to help breed better crops, conserve crop genetic resources, and build resilience into agricultural systems. They primarily work on legumes, with a current focus on legumes of the Near East and South and Southeast Asia. In parallel work, they strive to introduce new crops to Vermont through participatory breeding approaches.
Courses
- BCOR 011 Exploring Biology
- PSS 172 Crop Breeding
- PSS 134 Agro-terrorism and Bio-piracy
- HCOL 185 Crop Domestication
- PSS 296 Hydroponics
- FS 340 Food Systems Science and Policy
Publications
Bio
Eric von Wettberg's laboratory group, the Crop Genetic Heritage Laboratory, studies the consequences of population bottlenecks for adaptation to harsh environments, merging approaches from genomics and evolutionary ecology. A great many crops are deficient in genetic diversity as a result of extreme population bottlenecks resulting from domestication and breeding. This limits their capacity for adaptation to new or altered habitats. Understanding the consequences of domestication and breeding bottlenecks can help us develop more resilient crops to weather extremes. They aim to examine the evolutionary ecology of wild relatives of crops to help breed better crops, conserve crop genetic resources, and build resilience into agricultural systems. They primarily work on legumes, with a current focus on legumes of the Near East and South and Southeast Asia. In parallel work, they strive to introduce new crops to Vermont through participatory breeding approaches.
Courses
- BCOR 011 Exploring Biology
- PSS 172 Crop Breeding
- PSS 134 Agro-terrorism and Bio-piracy
- HCOL 185 Crop Domestication
- PSS 296 Hydroponics
- FS 340 Food Systems Science and Policy
Publications
Publications
- Biodiversity data: The importance of access and the challenges regarding benefit sharing
- A chickpea genetic variation map based on the sequencing of 3,366 genomes
- Cicer turcicum: A New Cicer Species and Its Potential to Improve Chickpea
- Potential and limits of exploitation of crop wild relatives for pea, lentil and chickpea improvement.
- Functional dissection of the chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) stay-green phenotype associated with molecular variation at an ortholog of Mendel’s I gene for cotyledon color: implications for crop production and carotenoid biofortification.
Associations and Affiliations
- Secretary and Scientific Executive Committee, International Legume Society
- Editorial Board, Plants People Planet
- Associate Editor, The Plant Genome