Calum is the early generation national hard wheat breeder at InterGrain, joining the company in 2020. He holds a Ph.D. in barley quantitative genetics from Murdoch University in addition to a master’s degree in quantitative genetics and breeding from the University of Western Australia. His research focused on determining which genes control grain size in barley in a bid to better identify breeding targets to reduce screenings through a number of different approaches including genetic engineering (CRISPR-Cas9).
In his new role Dr Watt will focus on the development of hard winter and spring wheats for Australia from the initial cross with the aid of new breeding technologies such as genomic selection. Additionally, he is leveraging new and existing partnerships with local and international researchers to incorporate new technologies and germplasm into our hard wheat programs to improve the productivity, sustainability and profitability of Australian wheat production.
