Nathan Maren

Former Horticulture - PhD

Bio

Degree Program: PhD, Horticultural Science
Advisor: Dr. Tom Ranney; Dr. Hudson Ashrafi
Dissertation: Characterization and Improvement of Novel Bioenergy Grasses (Tripidium spp.).
Dissertation Date: 2020-09-17

My professional career began in the private sector, working at Bailey Nurseries in multiple positions, including propagation, production, plant health, and plant breeding. These foundations in applied horticulture were an excellent launchpad for graduate experiences in tissue culture, somatic fusion, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, and plant breeding. Each experience has helped build the valuable skill sets necessary to lead a modern nursery/landscape crop research and breeding program. My experience with in-vitro plant culture and plant propagation enables the development of new artificial hybrids beyond what is tenable with traditional sexual crosses. My Ph.D. research spans molecular genetics, genomics, and crop improvement and will facilitate the future development of new crops by integrating the realms of traditional hybridization and bioengineering innovations. As a seasoned plant breeder with both industry and academic experience, I am excited to work with industry colleagues and the plant breeding community alike. My current research projects and interests include infrastructure farm development of JC Raulston Arboretum Horticulture Research Farm for modern nursery/landscape crop research, plant tissue culture-based regeneration biotechnology, bioengineering pipeline development, and transgene-free gene editing for nursery/landscape crops.

Education

Ph.D. Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University 2020
MS Forestry and Horticulture, North Dakota State University 2016
BS Environmental Horticulture, University of Minnesota 2005

Area(s) of Expertise

Nursery/Landscape and Bioenergy Crop Improvement, Plant Propagation, Horticulture Production

Weblinks

LinkedIn, Instagram, ResearchGate, OrcID, Google Scholar, Mountain Crop Improvement Lab, Translational Genomics & Plant Bioengineering Lab, JC Raulston Arboretum

Publications

Duan H., Maren, N.A., Ranney, T.G., and Liu W. New Opportunities for using WUS/BBM and GRF-GIF Genes to Enhance Genetic Transformation of Ornamental Plants. Ornamental Plant Research 2: 4.
Zhao F., Maren N.A., Kosentka P.Z., Liao Y.Y., Lu H., Duduit J.R., Huang D., Ashrafi H., Zhao T., Huerta A.I., Ranney T.G., and Liu W. 2021. An optimized protocol for stepwise optimization of real time RT-PCR analysis. Horticulture Research. 8 (1):179.
Maren, N.A., Zhao, F., Aryal, R., Touchell, D.H., Liu, W. Ranney T.G., and Ashrafi H. 2021. Reproductive developmental transcriptome analysis of Tripidium ravennae. BMC Genomics. 22 (1):483.
Maren, N.A., Touchell, D.H., Ranney, T.G., Ashrafi, H., Whitfield, M.B., and Chinn, M. 2020. Biomass yields, cytogenetics, fertility, and compositional analyses of novel bioenergy grass hybrids (Tripidium). GCB Bioenergy. 12 (5):361-373.
Maren, N.A, and West, T.P. 2016. Protoplast Viability in the Lilacs and Prospects for Cell Manipulation. Hortscience 51 (9), S222-S223
West, T.P., and Maren, N.A. 2015. Utilizing anti-auxin to increase axillary shoot proliferation rate of Japanese elm. HortScience 50 (9), S166-S166

Groups

Students: Former Horticulture - PhD