Dr. Daniela Sarti-Dvorjak, pictured with current IPSS graduate students Katherine Rod, Daniel Quinn, Rebecca McGrail, Sam Leuthold, and Alayna Jacobs. Photo by: Joseph Omielan, UK Plant and Soil Sciences

Dr. Daniela Sarti-Dvorjak is the 2020 recipient of the IPSS Alumnus Early Career Award. This award was presented to her following her seminar on March 13, 2020 entitled “The Power of Persistence: Insights in the plant breeding industry.”

Dr. Sarti-Dvorjak completed her doctorate in January 2014. While a student at UK, she conducted research with Dr. David Van Sanford and the wheat breeding team, focusing on fusarium head blight resistance and agronomic traits in soft red winter wheat. She served as a TA for PLS 103 and 104, coordinated the Plant Breeding Journal Club, coordinated the Department Movie Club, and was an active member in the Graduate Student Association. She has been employed with Syngenta since her graduation. She is the current North American Soybean South Market Segment Team Lead. She has previously acted as the Breeder’s Tools Project Manager (2019), Soybean Breeding Project Lead (2014-2019), and the Global Data Generation Process Lead (2017-2019). 

The IPSS Alumnus Early Career Award is presented by the IPSS Graduate Student Association. The award was instituted in 2019 and was first awarded to Dr. Jarrod Miller of the University of Delaware. Recipients must have completed their doctoral degree in IPSS or the preceding programs within 5-15 years of the award date. The recipient is selected by GSA members based on career progress following graduation.