Ross Maynard Welch
Prof Courtesy
Robert W Holley Ctr Ag&Health, Room 106
607-255-5434
Email: rmw1@cornell.edu
Concentration
Plant nutrition, human nutrition, micronutrients, food systems, biofortification
Graduate Fields
- Soil and Crop Sciences
Departments
- Department of Crop and Soil Science
Education
Bachelor's Degree
Cal State Polytech S L Obispo
1966
Master's Degree
U Cal Davis
1969
Doctorate
U Cal Davis
1971
Overview
I am employed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service as a plant physiologist and lead scientist located at the USDA-ARS Robert W. Holly Center for Agriculture and Health on Cornell campus. I also have a courtesy appointment as a Professor of Plant Nutrition in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at Cornell.
Research Focus
My research emphasis is on improving human health by linking agriculture to human nutrition using sustainable food system approaches. My primary research focuses is on micronutrient malnutrition especially among the resource poor people in the developing world using agronomic tools (e.g., fertilizers, cropping systems) and plant breeding techniques to improve the micronutrient (iron, zinc, selenium, vitamin A, etc.) density of stable food crops including rice, wheat, maize, beans, cassava and sweetpotato. I also perform basic research on the mechanisms of absorption, translocation and deposition of trace metals in food crops. Further, I study the factors in plant foods that affect the ability of humans to absorb essential micronutrient metals from diets.
Outreach and Extension Focus
I work closely with the global HarvestPlus biofortification program administered by two CGIAR Centers, the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical) in cooperation with several other CGIAR Centers (CIMMYT, CIP, IRRI, IITA, ICRISAT). This program seeks to use plant breeding to enhance the available micronutrient levels in staple food crops that feed resource-poor people in the developing world. I currently have international collaborative research with scientists at various institutions in Australia, Europe, South America, Africa and Mexico.
Instruction Focus
I co-teach sections of two courses in plant nutrition (CSS 455 Mineral Nutrition of Crops and Landscape Plants and CSS 642 Plant Mineral Nutrition) with a focus on micronutrients and food system approaches to finding sustainable solutions to micronutrient malnutrition and developing countries.