Claire H. Luby

I am a plant scientist with genetic diversity analysis and seed systems expertise, including 10 years of experience in analytical and applied problem-solving to re-envision and transform agricultural systems to improve human and environmental health.

I have always been interested in how agriculture is an intersection of humans and their environment. My work combines scientific and community-based approaches to solve complex agricultural problems.

I am currently a Faculty Associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Current research and outreach projects include collaborating with the Ho-Chunk and Menominee Nations in Wisconsin on food and seed sovereignty projects including a local three sisters garden with Native American youth in Madison; a regional beginner farmer training program; and a national partnership with the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network (ISKN) to re-matriate historic indigenous corn, bean, and squash varieties to communities. Additionally, I am working on understanding the genetic diversity of North American Hazelnut and assessing potential plant breeding objectives as well as production needs for this potential new perennial crop.

I recently completed my PhD as a Seed Matters Fellow in Organic Plant Breeding at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, during which I studied the effect of intellectual property rights on access to and sharing of plant genetic diversity using carrot as a model crop (see publications). This work resulted in 8 novel, open source carrot populations that represent the current diversity of commercially available carrots. My first postdoctoral research project expanded on this research to examine genetic and phenotypic carrot datasets from commercially available and historic varieties and wild carrot relatives to conduct genome wide association mapping on important horticultural traits in order to better understand the impact of domestication, selection, and breeding on carrot genetic diversity (paper in review at Genetics). My research has been conducted with the collaboration of two organic farmers in the Madison, WI area: Elderberry Hill Farm and Tipi Produce.

In addition to my academic work, I have worked to move seed sovereignty and organic agriculture forward. I am a co-founder, board member and past Executive Director of the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI), a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Together with our partners, we are building a more agro-ecologically based and just food system through the development and release of open source seed that can be used for plant breeding and seed saving now and into the future. Since 2015, we have fostered a network of 42 plant breeders who have released 500 new, open source, crop varieties being sold by 68 seed companies throughout the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. We have also helped launch sister initiatives in Europe, India and East Africa.

I am also a co-founder and board chair of the Student Organic Seed Symposium (SOSS) and the newly formed Society of Organic Seed Professionals (SOSP). SOSS, now in its ninth year, fosters collaboration between researchers, farmers, non-profits and industry professionals with the common goal of creating a vibrant organic seed and plant breeding sector. SOSP is a new professional organization committed to growing a research and professional community passionate about the advancement of organic plant breeding and seed systems. SOSP is also the parent organization that oversees the annual SOSS.