Soybean Breeding Team
The Arkansas Soybean Breeding program develops soybean cultivars that are highly adapted to Arkansas and tailored to the needs of Arkansas farmers.
The Arkansas Soybean Breeding program develops and releases conventional and herbicide-resistant soybean cultivars tailored to the needs of Arkansas growers. Our activities include the development of high-yielding commodity and specialty soybean varieties, conducting research on genetic tolerance to yield-limiting biotic and abiotic stressors, improved seed composition, and novel breeding methodologies, and mentoring and training undergraduate and graduate students in the art and science of plant breeding.
Caio Canella Vieira
Assistant Professor
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-6045 | caioc@uark.edu
Caio Canella Vieira is an Assistant Professor of soybean breeding at the University of Arkansas, currently leading the University’s soybean breeding program. Before joining the University of Arkansas, Canella Vieira obtained his MS and Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics at the University of Missouri. His program in Arkansas targets the development and release of high-yielding conventional and herbicide-tolerant soybean cultivars with broad biotic and abiotic stressors tolerance, as well as improved seed composition. The program put efforts into identifying and incorporating economic-important traits from genetically diverse accessions into modern, high-yielding genetic backgrounds. Substantial efforts are also made to maximize the efficiency of the soybean breeding program through the implementation of genomic prediction and high-throughput phenotyping strategies throughout all stages of the pipeline.
Liliana Florez-Palacios
Program Associate II: Nursery Operations
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-2230 | sandrafp@uark.edu
Liliana Florez-Palacios, originally from Colombia, holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Arkansas. She first joined the program in 2006 as an undergraduate intern, later earning both her M.S. and Ph.D. Liliana brings extensive experience coordinating and managing research projects and breeding field operations. Currently, she oversees crossing blocks, population development, and advancement, as well as progeny rows for both forward and backcross breeding programs, with the backcrossing program exclusively dedicated to converting elite conventional lines to herbicide-resistant products.
Andrea Acuna-Galindo
Program Associate II: Molecular Laboratory Operations
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-2109 | macunaga@uark.edu
Andrea Acuna-Galindo, a Colombian native, earned her M.S. in Crop Sciences and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the University of Arkansas. With a background in cotton and wheat breeding and expertise in molecular lab techniques, she transitioned to the soybean team in 2018, taking on the role of Breeding Operations Lead. Currently, Andrea oversees the Research and Molecular Lab Operations, while specializing in marker-assisted selection, disease screening, GWAS, and Genomic Selection.
Chengjun Wu
Program Associate II: Abiotic Stress & Specialty Soybean
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-2230 | cwu@uark.edu
Chengjun Wu has a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from Fudan University (China). He joined the team in 2011. Wu is an expert on abiotic stressors tolerance of soybean, specifically drought and flood tolerance. Wu also contributes to improving food-graded soybean, including the development of natto and edamame varieties.
Derrick Jerome Harrison
Program Associate I
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-5905 | derrickh@uark.edu
Derrick Jerome Harrison, an Arkansas native, joined the team in 2017 as a part-time employee. He then proceeded to earn a M.S. degree focused on screening soybeans for water-logging tolerance. He became a full-time employee upon graduation and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. while simultaneously working as a Program Associate in the Soybean Breeding and Genetics Program. As a program associate, Derrick mainly coordinates the breeding trial operations and supports purity and nursery operations. As a PhD student, his research focuses on identifying new genetic sources of flood-tolerant soybean using genomic prediction tools.
Daniel Rogers
Program Technician II: Purity Operations
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
djrogers@uark.edu
Daniel James Rogers, an Arkansas native, joined the team in 2013. As a program technician, Daniel oversees the purity operations. His responsibilities include designing and executing all purity operations, handling pre-foundation increases of potential releases, phenotyping and purifying experimental lines, and leading drone remote sensing operations. In addition to these vital tasks, Daniel actively contributes to field experiments in Fayetteville and supports nursery operations.
Rafael Goncalves Marmo
Graduate Research Assistant M.S.
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-575-3529 | rafaelg@uark.edu
Rafael is a M.S. student at the University of Arkansas Soybean Breeding Program and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from the Federal University of Lavras – Brazil. Rafael’s research focuses on understanding the relationship between complex traits and soybean grain yield stability across environments. His research aims to identify genomic regions linked to grain yield stability and implement genomic prediction models that leverage genetic correlations of multiple traits to enhance selection efficiency in the breeding pipeline. Rafael’s unwavering belief in the power of efficient hard work makes him an engaged team member.
Emanuel Ferrari do Nascimento
Graduate Research Assistant M.S.
Emanuel Ferrari do Nascimento, a Brazilian native, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from the Federal University of Viçosa – Brazil. His undergraduate experience in plant breeding includes internships in Brazil and a visiting scholar program at the University of Missouri’s Fisher Delta Research, Extension, and Education Center. Emanuel has been assisting the team with field and laboratory activities and contributing to research projects. His work focuses on identifying novel genetic sources of soybean resistance to southern root-knot nematode. Emanuel has a strong eagerness to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams.
Former Members
André Luís Tischler
June 2024 – December 2024
Jonathan David Mendoza Garcia
June 2023 – June 2024
Visiting Scholar
(CSES)-Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences
479-316-1940 | jm199@uark.edu
Jonathan David Mendoza Garcia, a visiting scholar from Colombia, joined the team in July 2023. In his current role, Jonathan supports field and laboratory operations. He will graduate with a BS in 2024 and aims to pursue graduate school after completing his appointment in the program. Jonathan contributes valuable knowledge to the team’s efforts.