Franco G. Asoro

Department of Agronomy
College of Agriculture
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011 USA

Education

Ph.D., Plant Breeding, Iowa State University, 2012 Minor: Statistics Dissertation: Improving beta-glucan content in North American oats using phenotypic selection, association mapping-marker assisted selection and genomic selection methods.
Major Advisors: Drs. William Beavis and Paul Scott

M.S., Plant Breeding , University of the Philippines Los Banos, 2006

B.S., Agriculture, major: Agronomy, University of the Philippines Los Banos, 2001

Work Experience

• Graduate Assistant (July 2008-Present) under W.D. Beavis, M.P. Scott and J.-L. Jannink. Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University; USDA-ARS
• Commercial Corn Breeding Lead (February 2008- July 2008)
  Monsanto Philippines Inc.
• Research Associate for Corn Breeding (October 2006 – January 2008)
  Monsanto Philippines Inc.
• University Research Associate (June 2003- October 2006)
  Corn Breeding, Cereals Division, Institute of Plant Breeding, UP Los Banos
• Graduate Research Assistant (February 2002 – June 2003)
  Sugarcane Genetic Resources, National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory. Institute of Plant Breeding, UP Los Baños.
• University Research Associate (May 2001-January 2002)
  Coconut Breeding, Feeds and Industrial Crops Division, Institute of Plant Breeding, UP Los Baños.
  
  

Research Skills

• Sufficient experience in field implementation of experimental designs and analysis using SAS
• Experience in the analysis of long-term multi-environment plant breeding data using mixed-model in SAS
• Experience on the implementation of experiments in association mapping-MAS and genomic selection methods
• Experience in multivariate statistics and data mining using R statistical software and packages
  
  

Variety Development

Part of the corn breeding team ( as University employee in 2003-2006) that developed and released new Philippine maize cultivars. Reference: UPLB-IPB releases five new maize open-pollinated cultivars. www.up.edu.ph/upnewsletter.

Awards

Academic Excellence Award for Graduate Students. Department of Agronomy, University of the Philippines Los Banos. April 2006.

Publications

Asoro F.G., A.M. Salazar, A.L. Carpena and N.C. Altoveros. 2007. Identification of donors with favorable alleles for grain yield to improve inbreds in a Philippine maize breeding program. Philippine Agricultural Scientist 90: 54-63.

Asoro F.G., and A.L. Carpena.2005. Variability analysis of improved sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam.] varieties in the Philippines. Philippine Agricultural Scientist 88: 408-417.

Lorenz, A., S. Chao, F. Asoro, E. Heffner, T.Hayashi, H. Iwata, K. Smith, M. Sorrels, J.-L. Jannink. 2010. Genomic Selection in Plant Breeding: Knowledge and Prospects. Advances in Agronomy 110: 77-123.

Asoro F.G., M.A. Newell, W.D. Beavis, M.P. Scott and J.-L. Jannink. 2011. Accuracy and training population design for genomic selection in elite North American oats. Plant Genome 4:132-144.

Presentations

Asoro, FG (April 2010). “Accuracy of Genomic Selection in Oat Quantitative Traits”. Plant Breeding Graduate Seminar. Department of Agronomy, ISU. Podcast available in the weblink:
http://www.agron.iastate.edu/news/podcasts/media/20100414_asoro.m4v

Asoro, FG (April 2010). “Predictive Ability of Genomic Selection for Beta-Glucan in Oats” given at American Oat Workers Conference. Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA. April 18-21, 2010.

Jannink J-L, Newell M, Asoro FG (October 2010). “Genomic selection in the presence of strong subpopulation structure,” given at the CSSA International Annual Meetings, November 2, 2010, Long Beach, California, USA.