James and the Giant Corn Genetics: Studying the Source Code of Nature

Which I suppose is not an unexpected development on the first day of classes for the fall semester. But it holds a special something this year. This semester for the first time as an actual assistant professor… I have to teach. First lecture tomorrow. Wish me luck, because I’m going to need as much of it as I can get.

My previous teaching experience was heavily weighted towards being a TA in multiple “science for non-majors” courses, which could have been a lot of fun. Unfortunately, each course had a reputation as an easy-A which attracted students who had absolutely no interest in the material.

Tomorrow should go a lot better than that. Much smaller class, specifically for the major, teaching material I developed myself. … fingers crossed….

It’s even smaller than mini-maize!

Developed by Xianmin Diao at CAAS and growing just outside of Beijing, China

And here are the wonderful group on researchers who work on Setaria italica (foxtail millet) at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Just got back from a two week visit to China that let me catch up with a lot of old friends and collaborators as well as hopefully making a few important new connections.

Five cities (Shanghai, Tai’an, Wuhan, Chengdu, and CAAS) and seven presentations in fourteen days. And classes start on Monday.