User:Grkinard

Gary Kinard

Research Leader, United States National Germplasm Resources Laboratory (NGRL)

About me
I am the Research Leader of the U.S. NGRL at the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Maryland. My educational background includes an MS in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology (1995), both from Clemson University in South Carolina. I am keenly interested in agricultural science issues and grew up in a diverse agricultural production area in South Carolina. My NGRL management unit is a key component in coordinating and supporting USDA's genetic resource collections, especially the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. My expertise includes all aspects of plant germplasm collections management (exploration, curation, documentation, distribution, and utilization), regulatory and phytosanitary issues related to the movement of plant material, and quarantine pathology research, especially plant virology. I have spent my entire scientific career with ARS, first as a post-doctoral scientist with the U.S. National Arboretum, than as a permanent scientist, and I have been the Research Leader of NGRL since 2008.

About NGRL and my role:
The National Germplasm Resources Lab facilitates the acquisition, exchange, and documentation of crop genetic resources important to world food security. It conducts research on plant pathogens of quarantine significance and develops techniques to detect and eliminate them; this helps to ensure safe global exchange and conservation of plants for food and agriculture. NGRL supports the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System which has genebank locations throughout the U.S. (Check out the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to learn more and find one near you.)

I use this account to create and/or edit Wikipedia articles only on topics of which I possess expertise, and in my official capacity as an employee of USDA. When I edit Wikipedia I strictly abide by Wikipedia's accepted practices on conflicts of interest, neutrality, and notability. My main focus and goal is on improving content related to my expertise, helping to make Wikipedia more reliable especially on topics related to agriculture and Plant Pathology in particular, while also sharing important research and resources offered through USDA-ARS. I will modify my editing behavior based on any issues brought to my attention by other editors.

Please feel free to reach out to me here, on my talk page.