Eric von Wettberg is an associate professor of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont, director of UVM’s Graduate Program in Food Systems, and a member of UVM’s Consortium for Crop Genetic Heritage.  He is motivated to preserve and protect crop genetic diversity, and to understand the processes by which wild plants were domesticated to become the crops we now cherish.  As a conservation geneticist working to preserve genetic diversity of legume crops, his research uses a combination of laboratory, greenhouse, and field approaches. Working in the legacy of the great crop geneticist, Nikolai Vavilov, many of his recent projects have supported international crop genebanks by exploring and adding to the genetic diversity held in their collections. In recent years he has been supporting efforts by the Abenaki of Vermont to conserve and celebrate their heirloom crops, and work by resettled refugee farmers to develop culturally significant crop varieties that are better adapted to Vermont.

View Eric's UVM Faculty Page here.