Jordan Knapp-Wilson

Jordan Knapp-Wilson, a native-born Arizonan from Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2019 with dual degrees in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Plant Sciences. During his undergraduate studies, he worked in the Mark Beilstein Lab and completed a summer internship with Dr. Duke Pauli at the Maricopa Agricultural Center (MAC) where he developed a passion for plant breeding and high-throughput plant phenotyping (HTPP). Influenced by his Mexican grandfather’s encouragement to learn about agriculture and stewardship of the land, Jordan is now a PhD candidate and researcher at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics.

As a NAPB Borlaug 2019 Scholarship Award winner, he is currently utilizing terrestrial LiDAR technology to generate point cloud data of tree architecture in peaches, aiming to advance HTPP through 3D computational modeling to help growers and researchers help implement automation for peach production. Jordan, soon to graduate, is considering pursuing a post-doctoral position to continue his research in horticultural crops and 3D HTPP as well as new and exciting positions in industry.