Anna Westerbergh

• Principle investigator and group leader - stress-tolerant and perennial cereals
• Director of studies, course leader and teacher at the Department of Plant Biology
• Member of the SLU Platform Plant Breeding committee

I received my Master of Science degree in Biology at Umeå University in Sweden. Due to my strong interest in plant genetics and evolution I did my graduate work in Genetics studying the genetic adaptation and evolution of the wild plant Silene dioica (red campion) on natural heavy metal soils, serpentine. After my PhD graduation I was a postdoctoral fellow in John Doebley’s lab at the University of Minnesota, USA.

My postdoctoral research focused on understanding the genetic basis of morphological and adaptive trait differences between annual and perennial wild species relatives of maize, teosinte. When I later joined the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences it was a natural step for me to direct my studies towards the use of wild crop relatives as genetic resources in plant breeding with the aim to develop new crops and cultivars for sustainable and climate-smart agriculture.

Using wild plants and their genetic diversity for development of novel crops in a changing climate

Currently my main research focuses on barley and wheat and their wild relatives for the development of stress-tolerant and perennial grain crops.

You can read more about my current research here.

Previous research of special interest for my current projects is described here.