Leon Kochian
Leon Kochian | |
|---|---|
| Born | San Diego, California, USA |
| Awards | Arrell Global Food Innovation Award (2019) |
| Academic background | |
| Education | BA, 1978, University of California, Berkeley PhD, Plant Physiology, 1983, University of California, Davis |
| Thesis | The Kinetics, Mechanisms and Localization of K+ Influx in Zea mays Roots (1983) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Saskatchewan Cornell University Agricultural Research Service |
Leon Vincent Kochian is an American botanist and plant physiologist. He is a Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Food Systems and Security at the University of Saskatchewan. Kochian is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Early life and education
Kochian grew up in San Diego, California.[1] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in botany from University of California, Berkeley and his PhD in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).[2] While earning his bachelor's degree, Kochian received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for showing "outstanding ability in the field of science."[3]
Career
Upon completing his PhD, Kochian spent one year as a postdoctoral associate and lecturer at UC Davis. In 1986, Kochian joined the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory at Cornell University.[1][4] His early research at the center focused on using microelectrodes for root ion transport processes. His efforts were recognized in 1990 when he was selected as the Agricultural Research Service's Early Career Scientist in the North Atlantic region.[5][6] Throughout the 1990s, Kochian focused his research on growing crop plant species in marginal soils and using plants to clean up soils contaminated with heavy metals.[7] He was awarded the 1999 USDA Secretary's Award for Environmental Protection and named the USDA's Outstanding Senior Scientist of the Year in recognition of this research.[8] Kochian was also appointed Director of the Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory.[4]
After receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation,[9] Kochian and his research team cloned a novel aluminum-tolerant gene in sorghum to assist plants in growing in toxic soil.[10][11] In recognition of his work, Kochian named an inaugural Fellow of the American Society of Plant Biologists[12] and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[13] In 2015, Kochian was named to the Agricultural Research Service Science Hall of Fame.[14]
Kochian was recruited by the University of Saskatchewan in 2016. Upon joining the school, he was named a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Food Systems and Security and the associate director of the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS).[15][16] As the associate director of GIFS, Kochian and his research team focused on identifying phenotypes in crops to genetically engineer crops with better root systems.[17][18] In recognition of his efforts, Kochian received the 2019 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award.[19]
References
- ^ a b Brown, Mitchell (January 24, 2020). "Leon Kochian: Getting To The Root Of The Matter". BioLab Business Magazine. pp. 18–19. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
- ^ "Leon Kochian". University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
- ^ "Grants given to students". The Berkeley Gazette. March 21, 1978. Retrieved May 11, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Leon V Kochian". Cornell University. Archived from the original on June 22, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "Newsmakers". The Ithaca Journal. August 16, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Newsmakers". The Ithaca Journal. November 15, 1990. Retrieved May 16, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Kochian, Leon (January 1995). "Cellular Mechanisms of Aluminum Toxicity and Resistance in Plants". Annual Review of Plant Biology. 46: 675–681. doi:10.1146/annurev.pp.46.060195.001321. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "Honors and Awards". Archived from the original on April 11, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Lang, Susan S. (September 23, 2004). "NSF awards Cornell $6.5 million to sequence tomato genome, improve aluminum tolerance in crops and improve turbulent combustion". Cornell University. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Magalhaes, J. V.; Liu, J.; Guimarães, C. T.; Lana, U. G.; Alves, V. M.; Wang, Y. H.; Schaffert, R. E.; Hoekenga, O. A.; Piñeros, M. A.; Shaff, J. E.; Klein, P. E.; Carneiro, N. P.; Coelho, C. M.; Trick, H. N.; Kochian, L. V. (August 26, 2007). "A gene in the multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family confers aluminum tolerance in sorghum". Nature Genetics. 39 (9): 1156–1161. doi:10.1038/ng2074. PMID 17721535. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Ramanujan, Krishna (February 22, 2010). "Cloned gene being used to develop aluminum tolerant crops, Kochian says at AAAS". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "The American Society of Plant Biologists announces 2007 awards". Eurekalert. September 6, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "AAAS Annual Election: Preliminary Announcement". American Association for the Advancement of Science. October 28, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Kaplan, Kim (September 16, 2015). "Four Scientists Named to Agricultural Research Service Science Hall of Fame". USDA. Archived from the original on April 12, 2025. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "U of S Awarded $20-M Canada Excellence Research Chair". Newswise. September 15, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Shewaga, James (August 9, 2019). "Leon Kochian: world-renowned research". University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ Stauffer, Julia (November 7, 2022). "Climate resilient crops that can do more with less". Canadian Foundation for Innovation. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "Getting to the roots of global food security". Government of Canada. 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
- ^ "Renowned USask Global Institute for Food Security scientist awarded prestigious international food innovation prize". University of Saskatchewan. October 8, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
External links
- Leon Kochian publications indexed by Google Scholar