Benjamin Gutierrez
Cornell University

I am a PGRU geneticist and curator of the PGRU Vitis (grapevine) collection. Grapevine is the most valuable fruit crop worldwide, and our unique cold-adapted accessions help to expand grape growing regions. My goal is to preserve 1,400+ field accessions and ensure these resources are available for research and cultivar development. We use molecular techniques and phenotyping to explore the diversity within our collection and facilitate germplasm utilization. Currently, my research is focused on metabolite diversity, including aroma in grapes and phenolics in apple and tart cherry, and using aerial phenotyping to record phenological data in germplasm collections.