Joseph Gage

Joseph Gage is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at NC State University. His research focuses on integrating crop genomics and phenomics to develop climate-resilient maize varieties through advanced data science techniques.

• Academic Affiliation: NC State University
• Department: Crop and Soil Sciences
• Research Focus: Genotype-Environment Interactions, Gene Regulation, Machine Learning Applications
• Contact: jlgage@ncsu.edu

Research interests include:

• Understanding how sequence variation controls gene regulation
• Investigating translational regulation mechanisms in maize
• Developing AI-driven crop prediction models
• Processing high-throughput phenotyping data
• Exploring maize brace root mucilage and drought responses
• Studying transcript abundance variation across environments

Lab members include:

• PhD Students: Ty Thomas, Jordan Cummings, Laide Rasaki, Jaswinder Kaur, Cole Hammett
• Postdoctoral Scholars: Nate Korth, Sontosh Deb, Stef Elorriaga
• Undergraduate Researchers: Janani Ambuga, Peyton Vanada, Breyton Hill, Ava Taylor

Current projects include:

• Maize GxE prediction modeling
• uORF impact on protein expression
• Synthetic promoter development
• Drone-based phenotyping
• Soil microbiome analysis
• Climate stress resistance studies

Publications highlight:

• Global genotype-by-environment prediction competitions
• Deep learning approaches for yield estimation
• Characterization of maize leaf azimuth angles
• Analysis of upstream open reading frames
• Multi-environment trial datasets

The lab receives funding through the Genomes to Fields Initiative and collaborates with researchers like Dr. Jim Holland, Dr. Amanda Hulse-Kemp, Dr. Susana Milla-Lewis, and Peter Balint-Kurti.