Overview

Margaret E. Smith came to Cornell University in 1987 as a faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Life Science's Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, focusing on corn breeding. Her research is primarily on field corn, but also includes limited work on sweet corn. Her program emphasizes breeding for productivity and adaptation to New York growing conditions, improving insect and disease resistance, adapting varieties to more sustainable production systems, breeding for organic systems, and exploring farmer-participatory plant breeding. Until spring 2002, she taught a course on genetic improvement of crop plants. From 1998 until 2001, Margaret served as the Associate Director for Cornell Cooperative Extension in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Upon completion of her half-time administration assignment, she returned full time to the Plant Breeding and Genetics faculty to continue her corn breeding research and to serve as the Department Extension Leader. In her extension role, she conducts educational programs for agricultural audiences on crop varieties and seeds, and on plant genetic engineering for diverse public audiences. Before coming to Cornell, Margaret worked for several years in Latin America, first as a plant breeder at the Tropical Agriculture Center for Research and Teaching in Turrialba, Costa Rica, and later as a corn breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Texcoco, Mexico. The focus of her work in both of these positions was on improving crop varieties for small-scale and subsistence farmers in the tropics ? a research interest she maintains to date. She currently has collaborative projects in Kenya and South Africa.

Research Focus

My research goal is to enhance our understanding of corn adaptation to marginal environments and develop genetic materials that will improve corn productivity and sustainability in such environments. My corn breeding research objectives include: (1) gaining an understanding of the genetics of and genetic variability for improved performance under marginal conditions, (2) developing better selection methods for improving performance under such conditions, (3) exploring sources of novel genes to improve key productivity and sustainability traits, and (4) developing and releasing germplasm sources of use in New York, nationially, and internationally.

Outreach and Extension Focus

As Department Extension Leader, I aim to make our extension program as strong as it can be in support of our mission, guided by the following specific goals. 1. Help NY farmers and gardeners improve variety choices and seed quality. a. Grow and provide Foundation seed and help seed growers produce Certified seed of superior crop varieties for NY. b. Share results of variety testing on NY farms and experiment stations to help seed companies determine which varieties to market, seed growers decide which varieties to produce, and farmers select top varieties for their farms. c. Provide decision-making information to help farmers make wise seed choices. d. Gain feedback for breeders based on seed growers' and farmers' experiences with new crop varieties. e. Conduct commercial field corn variety trials to assess grain yield potential and adaptation to New York growing environments, and provide this information to growers and seedsmen. 2. Improve public understanding of plant breeding, crop varieties, and genetic engineering and increase awareness of the benefits that have been derived from genetic improvement of plants. a. Provide educational programs and written resources on plant breeding and genetic engineering. b. Develop a plan and resource materials for education about gene deployment across the landscape.

Instruction Focus

Although I do not have a regular teaching assignment at this time, I routinely give guest lectures on plant breeding and genetic engineering in a number of courses.

Additional Links

• http://plbrgen.cals.cornell.edu/people/profiles/smithmargaret.cfm
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics - Corn Variety Testing
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics - Corn Variety Testing
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics - Margaret E. Smith
• Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics - Margaret E. Smith
• Link to CALS Research portal
• Link to CALS Impact statements

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