Joscif Raigne, a PhD student in plant breeding at Iowa State was selected by ISRC industry partner GDM to receive a $1,000 travel grant for the 2026 National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) Meeting, which was held in June and hosted by Texas A&M. Raigne, who is part of the Soynomics group, advised by Asheesh “Danny” Singh, presented on “Phenomic-assisted Selection in Soybean Variety Development.”
His research focused on predicting seed yield for phenomic-assisted selection in plant breeding programs across thousands of breeding plots and environments that require efficient and scalable phenotyping tools. The study evaluated multispectral aerial and high-resolution satellite imagery for seed yield prediction in a soybean cultivar development program. Imagery data were collected across three growing seasons in Iowa from more than 54,000 soybean breeding plots.
Raigne, who plans to graduate in the fall, said, “It was an honor to receive the GDM Travel Grant for the NAPB 2026 Conference. I am deeply grateful and excited for the support and invaluable opportunities it provided. As a plant breeder, early in my career, attending this conference was a huge opportunity to learn from leading scientists and build long-lasting connections with others who are also passionate about advancing plant breeding.”
GDM’s Travel Grant Program helps cover student travel expenses while also recognizing outstanding student research contributions. The ISRC assists GDM with the application and award/travel reimbursement process.
Thank you to GDM for supporting the talent and hard work of ISU graduate students!
