Oscar Riera-Lizarazu

Oscar Riera-Lizarazu is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Head for Graduate Programs in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University's College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. He holds the Basye Endowed Chair in Rose Genetics and leads the Rosaceae Genetics and Genomics research group. His educational background includes a BS and MS in Plant Science from Utah State University and a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Minnesota.

Research Focus: Dr. Riera-Lizarazu leads the Rose Breeding and Genetics Program at Texas A&M, developing molecular tools for rose improvement. His research integrates genomics with traditional breeding to enhance disease resistance, floral traits, and environmental adaptability in roses. Current projects investigate:

• Genetic control of flower color transitions in tetraploid roses
• QTL mapping for disease resistance (rose rosette disease, black spot)
• Polyploid genomics and ploidy manipulation
• Genotyping-by-sequencing pipeline optimization

With over 20 years of international agricultural research experience, he previously held leadership positions at Corteva Agriscience and ICRISAT, working on wheat, sorghum, and pearl millet improvement programs.