Magdalena Krysiak

In this role my primary focus is on malt analysis in the laboratory while providing support across various breeding activities. This encompasses assisting with selections, trial planning, and conducting data analysis. In this role, I am gaining valuable experience in the field of barley breeding, actively learning, and contributing to ongoing research effort.

In my brief tenure at Edward Vinson, I undertook responsibilities in managing project in strawberry breeding program. During this period, I proactively worked on enhancing my skills in the R programming language to further contribute to data analysis tasks. However, the pace and nature of the work didn't align with my learning objectives, prompting a reassessment of my career path.

Participating in the whole process of breeding plants: from sowing and growing plants, to selection and evaluation of the germplasm, planning crossing blocks and dispatch of seeds for various trials. I redesigned the yearly timetable to spread the workload and better use available resources which had a huge impact on improving seed set, filling the gap related to seasonality of work and keeping employees working year-round. I was responsible for training new employees and managing their daily activities. I consistently met my short- and long-term targets.

Helped in the overall process of breeding tomatoes. Managed sowing, transplanting, scouting for disease and pests, tissue sampling, trial evaluation, screening plants for resistance, performing pathology tests and others. The main project during my internship focused on the characterization of I-3 introgression size in Fusarium wilt race 3 resistant Sakata inbred material and correlation with overall plant health and fruit size.

Helped in the overall process of breeding 15 different species of flowers (including Petunia, Calibrachoa and Verbena). Prepared pollination protocols, took cuttings, propagated and grew plants in a highly protected closed environment, cleaned seeds and managed their inventory, screened plants for resistance to cold and rain/humidity.

Helped in vegetative propagation of flowering plants: watered plants, scouted for pests and diseases; applied pesticides and growth regulators; mixed fertilisers; and managed space. In the meantime helped in overall production process of rooted plants: stuck cuttings; transplanted; trimmed; and moved plants.

Managed production of all kinds of vegetables and flowers in this organic farm-to-table business. From seed to finished product I was in charge of sowing; watering; transplanting; scouting for pests and diseases; protecting crops; harvesting; storing products; and selling them directly to consumers. Part of my responsibilities was also to manage and train employees.