Dr. Leah McHale

Long term interest in genetics & improving plants production - I really like that these areas help society in general.

Research in the McHale lab focuses on the characterization and manipulation of natural variation occurring in crop plants, primarily soybean and chile peppers. Specifically, the research program is involved in the identification of genes conferring disease resistance, yield, and quality traits and, in soybean, examining how best to integrate these alleles for the development of improved varieties. To accomplish this, new technologies and a cross-disciplinary approach are exploited, which includes genetics and genomics, evolution, bioinformatics, and plant pathology. Particular interests are the study of breeding methodologies, disease resistance, domestication and agronomic traits for both the development of improved cultivars and evolutionary and molecular plant-pest interactions studies.

Towards the end of my time in grad school I felt (at that point in time) it would be easier to transition from academics to industry if I ever-changed my mind. I then completed a post-doc in an academic lab setting further confirming my choice to pursue a career in academia.

Chile pepper work done in collaboration with researchers in Mexico.

The Plant & Animal Genome Conference - it's a large conference that allows me to meet up with collaborators & friends I don't get to see too often!

Getting back to in person meetings, research & collaborations!

Parenting my 3 young kids keeps me quite busy.