Jessica Rutkoski

Dr. Jessica Rutkoski serves as Assistant Professor in Small Grains Breeding at the University of Illinois, where she has led the wheat breeding program since 2019. Her mission focuses on developing profitable winter wheat varieties for Illinois producers while innovating breeding methodologies to accelerate genetic gain through quantitative genetics and genomic selection.

Her educational foundation includes a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (2014) under Dr. Mark Sorrells. Professional experience spans Cornell University (Assistant Professor, 2014-2016), CIMMYT (Adjunct Associate Scientist), and IRRI (Scientist, 2016-2019), where she specialized in breeding efficiency for cereal crops.

Research priorities integrate statistical genomics with applied breeding to enhance sustainability and profitability in wheat production. Current efforts emphasize genomic selection deployment for self-pollinated crops, with particular attention to Midwest agricultural economics and environmental impact.

At Illinois, she has reorganized the breeding program, licensed multiple wheat lines to commercial seed companies, and co-authored 16 scientific articles plus three book chapters. She actively contributes to academic instruction through two substantially revised university courses.

Prior international collaborations include CIMMYT's Global Wheat Breeding Program in Mexico and IRRI's data-driven rice improvement initiatives in the Philippines, demonstrating cross-crop applicability of her quantitative genetics expertise.