Molly Jahn

Last updated
Molly Jahn
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Swarthmore College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University
Known forDeputy and Acting Under Secretary of Research, Education, and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2009-10
Scientific career
Fields Genetics, Plant virology, Food security
Institutions Cornell University, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Molly Jahn is an American plant geneticist and breeder and Professor of Agronomy at University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. She was Under Secretary of Research, Education and Economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (2009 - 2010).

Contents

Career

Jahn (originally Kyle) graduated with BA in biology (with Distinction) from Swarthmore College in 1980. She subsequently completed a master's degree at MIT in 1983 and obtained her doctorate in plant breeding and plant pathology from Cornell University in 1988. She was appointed assistant, associate and finally full professor of plant breeding and plant biology at Cornell University from 1991-2006. [1] She moved to University of Wisconsin-Madison where she was dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and director of the Wisconsin Experiment Station from 2006 - 2011 and continues as professor of agronomy. [1]

She also holds appointments outside University of Wisconsin-Madison. During 2009-10, she was Deputy and Acting Under Secretary of Research, Education, and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [2] She was seconded to NASA in 2019-20 and will continue as 25%-time Director of Strategic Outreach, NASA Harvest Consortium into 2022. [3] [4]

Scientific research

Her research interests include plant genetics and genomics especially the resistance of plants to viruses. She has concentrated on the Solanaceae specifically potatoes, tomatoes and pungency in Capsicum, but has also worked with melons, squashes and pumpkins. She has been involved with and led plant breeding programmes that have resulted in new cultivars of squash (including All American Selections Winner Bush Delicata in 2002; Honeynut in 2014; All American Selections Winners Honeybaby F1 and Sugaretti in 2017), pepper, melon and cucumber (Salt and Pepper in 2011) varieties as well as having received awards for potato breeding. [5]

As well as plant breeding her research has involved fundamental aspects of plant physiology. As her career has developed she has become more involved in public policy areas of plant science, particularly related to world food security. [6] [7]

Distinctions

Jahn has served on advisory boards including the US National Academies of Science Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Santa Fe Institute Science Board and was the USA representative on the CGIAR’s Commission for Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. [8]

In 2012 she was awarded a USDA Secretary’s Honor Award for an electronic suggestions box so USDA employees could make anonymous suggestions to improve the agency. [9]

Jahn has been awarded Honorary D. Sc. degrees from Anglia Ruskin University, UK in 2014 [6] and Swarthmore College in 2015. [10] She was commencement speaker at the University of Sydney in 2016. She is also a Fellow of the AAAS and the Wisconsin Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters.

Significant publications

Jahn has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific publications and books. Her most significant publications include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capsaicin</span> Pungent chemical compound in chili peppers

Capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is a chemical irritant and neurotoxin for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact. Capsaicin and several related amides (capsaicinoids) are produced as secondary metabolites by chili peppers, probably as deterrents against certain mammals and fungi. Pure capsaicin is a hydrophobic, colorless, highly pungent, crystalline to waxy solid compound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chili pepper</span> Varieties of peppers belonging to several species of Capsicum genus

Chili peppers, from Nahuatl chīlli, are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add "heat" to dishes. Capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids are the substances giving chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Chili peppers exhibit a wide range of heat and flavor profiles. This diversity is the reason behind the availability of different types of paprika and chili powder, each offering its distinctive taste and heat level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agronomy</span> Science of producing and using plants

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. It is the application of a combination of sciences such as biology, chemistry, economics, ecology, earth science, and genetics. Professionals of agronomy are termed agronomists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalapeño</span> Hot pepper

The jalapeño is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum. A mature jalapeño chili is 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of 25–38 mm wide. It can have a range of pungency, with Scoville heat units of 4,000 to 8,500. Commonly picked and consumed while still green, it is occasionally allowed to fully ripen and turn red, orange, or yellow. It is wider and generally milder than the similar Serrano pepper.

<i>Capsicum pubescens</i> Species of plant

Capsicum pubescens is a plant of the genus Capsicum (pepper). The species name, pubescens, refers to the hairy leaves of this pepper. The hairiness of the leaves, along with the black seeds, make Capsicum pubescens distinguishable from other Capsicum species. Capsicum pubescens has pungent yellow, orange, red, green or brown fruits.

<i>Capsicum annuum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, including sweet bell peppers and some chili pepper varieties such as jalapeños, New Mexico chile, and cayenne peppers, all of which are nightshades. Cultivars descended from the wild American bird pepper are still found in warmer regions of the Americas. In the past, some woody forms of this species have been called C. frutescens, but the features that were used to distinguish those forms appear in many populations of C. annuum and are not consistently recognizable features in C. frutescens species.

Rebecca J. Nelson is an American biologist and a professor at Cornell University and a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven D. Tanksley</span> American geneticist

Steven Dale Tanksley is the Chief Technology Officer of Nature Source Improved Plants. Prior to founding Nature Source Improved Plants, Tanksley served as the Liberty Hyde Bailey professor of plant breeding and biometry and chair of the Genomics Initiative Task Force at Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He is currently a Professor Emeritus at Cornell University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences</span> Agricultural school of the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is one of the colleges of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Founded in 1889, the college has 17 academic departments, 23 undergraduate majors, and 49 graduate programs.

Armando Theodoro Hunziker was an Argentine botanist. He had specialized in the study of systems biology of the family Solanaceae, having contributed with a large number of investigations and publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padrón pepper</span> Variety of pepper from Padrón, Spain

Padrón pepper, also called Herbón pepper, is a landrace variety of pepper from the municipality of Padrón in northwestern Spain.

The Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is an international research-based and non-profit organization specializing in research, education and archiving information related to Capsicum or chile peppers. The institute was established in 1992 and is devoted to research and educating the world about chile peppers. Its research facility is named for Fabián García, a Mexican-American horticulturalist dubbed "the father of the U.S. chile pepper industry", who began standardizing varieties of chile pepper in 1888.

<i>Capsicum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habanero</span> Strain of chili (Capsicum)

The habanero is a hot variety of chili. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. Typically, a ripe habanero is 2–6 centimetres long. Habanero chilis are very hot, rated 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale. The habanero's heat, flavor, and floral aroma make it a popular ingredient in hot sauces and other spicy foods.

<i>Capsicum cardenasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Capsicum cardenasii is a plant species in the genus Capsicum and the family Solanaceae. It is a diploid with 2n=2x=24. It is a member within the C. pubescens complex, a group of closely related Capsicum species. It is closely related to C. eximium. It is native to the Andes, and it can be found in Bolivia and Peru. The native name is ulupica.

Amanda M. Hulse-Kemp is a computational biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service. She works in the Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit and is stationed on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ernest Robert Sears was an American geneticist, botanist, pioneer of plant genetics, and leading expert on wheat cytogenetics. Sears and Sir Ralph Riley (1924–1999) are perhaps the two most important founders of chromosome engineering in plant breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosalind Morris</span> American geneticist (1920–2022)

Mary Rosalind Morris was a professor of plant cytogenetics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1947 to 1990. She was one of the first women to earn a doctoral degree in genetics and plant breeding from Cornell University, was the first female faculty member in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture at UNL, and was the first woman fellow of the American Society of Agronomy. Her pioneering work on "misbehaving chromosomes" in wheat cytogenetics was internationally recognized. In 1980, she served as president of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. She was awarded a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She was born in Wales and immigrated with her family to Forest, Ontario, Canada as a child. She died on March 26, just before her 102nd birthday.

<i>Capsicum lanceolatum</i> Species of plant in the genus Paprika


Capsicum lanceolatum is a species of plant in the genus Paprika (Capsicum) in the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The species has its original range in Guatemala and in the neighboring countries of Mexico and Honduras. Currently, only one natural occurrence of the species is known; all other previously known deposits were destroyed by converting the sites into agricultural land.

References

  1. 1 2 "Molly Jahn". Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Buntjer, Julie (27 March 2010). "An area of opportunity". The Globe. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Molly Jahn How I work with Harvest". NASA HARVEST. University of Maryland Center for Global Agricultural Monitoring Research. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "Meet a TReNDS Expert: Molly Jahn". Thematic Research Network on Data and Statistics. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "Molly Jahn" (PDF). Jahn Research Group. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Professor Molly Jahn". Angela Ruskin University. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Molly Jahn, University of Wisconsin-Madison". Expert Meeting on the Global Risk Assessment Framework in support of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement' - 20–21 November, Geneva, Switzerland. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Molly Jahn Adjunct Senior Research Scientist". Columbia University Earth Institute. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Sakai, Jill. "USDA honors project led by UW–Madison professor". UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN–MADISON.
  10. ↑ "Interim President Constance Hungerford's Charge to Molly Miller Jahn '80". Swarthmore. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
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