Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra

Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra is a Professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on evolutionary genomics of maize and its wild relatives, including teosinte, with an emphasis on understanding the genetic basis of domestication, adaptation, and crop improvement. Ross-Ibarra holds a BA in Botany (UC Riverside, 1998), an MS in Botany (UC Riverside, 2000), and a PhD in Genetics (University of Georgia, 2006).

His research interests span computational biology, quantitative genetics, and evolutionary systems biology, particularly in studying how genetic variation contributes to adaptation in plants under natural and agricultural conditions. He leads the RIlab at UC Davis, which integrates genomic data with field experiments to explore topics like genomic architecture of adaptation, transposable element dynamics, and the evolutionary consequences of domestication.

Ross-Ibarra has received prestigious awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2009) and the Maize Genetics Mid-Career Award for Research Excellence (2021). His work often bridges evolutionary theory with applied plant breeding challenges, such as leveraging wild genetic diversity to enhance crop resilience to climate change.

He teaches courses including BIS 101 (Genes and Gene Expression), PBI 200A (Plant Biology), and ECL 243 (Ecological Genomics). His lab's research has been featured in high-impact journals like Nature Genetics and PNAS, with a focus on maize genome evolution, introgression patterns, and the genomic basis of adaptive traits.