Dempewolf, Hannes
Research
Crop evolution; agro-biodiversity conservation
My PhD research focuses on the Ethiopian oil-seed crop Noug (English name: Niger; Guizotia abyssinica (L.f.) Cass.), which is closely related to sunflower. I am unravelling Noug's evolutionary history using a combination of genetic markers, genomic tools, and ethnobotanical information. This will allow me to draw conclusions about the levels and partitioning of genetic variability within wild populations, landraces, and modern cultivars; identify genetic bottlenecks during domestication or improvement; track down the geographic center of domestication; and identify genes repeatedly involved in the domestication of Compositae crops. My broader goals are to identify and order the various factors (human, ecological, climatic, geographical, and genetic) that have contributed to the domestication of Noug and to make recommendations about the conservation of the crop and its wild relatives. The results from my work will provide important groundwork for guiding the future genetic resource management of the crop as well as the potential utilization of the genetic material for crop improvement efforts in the context of sustainable development and global food security.
More recently, I have also started to get involved in a project on cacao diversity. Ancient cacao varieties grown by small-scale farmers are commonly sold at a low standard price because they have no recognition by the cocoa industry as specialty types. These varieties may have unique flavours of interest to chocolate manufacturers catering to discriminating consumers of high-quality chocolate. However, there is a need for a standardized, reliable method to identify and distinguish them from 'ordinary' beans. Using modern genomics methods we aim to develop a DNA fingerprinting-based system to distinguish and trace cocoa cultivars. The establishment of such a method will enable the promotion of these unique varieties and hence secure their continued cultivation in the future. Enabling small-scale farmers to achieve premium prices for their traditional cocoa varieties will encourage them to cultivate more of this and similar unique materials and hence keep them alive for future generations. Traditional varieties often have not only unique flavours and superior quality, but also frequently harbour resistance genes against pests and diseases that can be invaluable for future crop improvement.
We have a shared global responsibility to find sustainable ways to provide food for the world's increasing population and at the same time conserve (agricultural) biodiversity in the face of environmental change. I hope to address this challenge with my research.
I decided to enter grad school because I feel passionate about my research and have the great hope that it will help me to contribute to some of the global challenges we face today.
During my previous stay as an undergraduate exchange student at UBC , I realized how much I enjoyed living in British Columbia and the city of Vancouver. UBC's reputation as one of the leading research-oriented universities in the world is growing rapidly and this reputation certainly added to the appeal. In recent years, UBC has been able to attract more and more world-class scientists to join its faculty. The chance to work with such brilliant scientists was probably the primary reason I decided to come back to UBC for my PhD.
Living in Vancouver and studying at UBC is a very cosmopolitan experience. Try to take advantage of it in every way you can!
Trail running in the North Shore Mountains, sailing Howe Sound and relaxing on the Gulf Islands are all experiences that rate pretty highly on my list.
