Brian Baltunis

• Responsible for managing genetic resources in the Western Tree Improvement Program at Weyerhaeuser
• Breeding and testing strategy for Douglas-fir
• Deployment of Douglas-fir in Washington and Oregon
• Analysis and interpretation of forest genetic data
• Budget and contract administration
• Safety leadership
• People development

Clients included Weyerhaeuser Company (USA), BC Ministry of Forests and Range (Canada), Western Forest Products Inc (Canada), CSIRO (Australia), ITC (India), Scion (New Zealand), REGENETICS (USA).

• Analyze forest genetics data for tree breeding programs and clonal forestry programs using statistical software program ASReml
• Summarize results and write technical client-reports
• Make recommendations on selections to advance tree breeding and deployment populations
• Write peer-reviewed scientific journal articles
• Teach clients genetic data analysis methods

• Teach BIO 104 Introduction to Life Sciences Laboratory
• Teach BIO 107 Introduction to Environmental Science Laboratory
• Present biological principals to non-science, 1st and 2nd year students

• Analyses of radiata pine clonal data for ArborGen Australasia to guide selections for their operational program
• Data collection and management
• Quantitative genetic analyses of genetic trials: provenance, progeny, clonal, GxE, multivariate, age-age correlations, trait-trait correlations, molecular markers (SNPs for validation population for association study in radiata pin; QTLs for two traits in Eucalyptus)
• Development of breeding strategies for improving wood quality in radiata pine for national breeding program
• Development of breeding strategies for dealing with antagonistically correlated traits
• Write peer-reviewed scientific journal articles
• Write technical client-reports
• Participation in ASReml-R short-course in Queensland, Australia (Brian Cullis)

• Participated in the Juvenile Wood Initiative Project for Radiata pine in Australia and New Zealand
• Data collection and management
• Quantitative genetic analyses of genetic trials: provenance, progeny, clonal, GxE, multivariate, age-age correlations, trait-trait correlations
• Write peer-reviewed scientific journal articles
• Write technical client-reports

• Coordinated loblolly and slash pine clonal studies which involved vegetative propagation, field trial establishment, maintenance, and measurements
• Data collection, management and analyses using SAS, ASReml, GAREML
• Wrote annual reports, study plans, and gave formal presentations
• Assisted with development of 2,000 clone population for a genomics project (ADEPT – Allele Discovery of Economic Pine Traits)
• Participated in a Pine Genomics Workshop for the Loblolly Pine Genome Project which involved presenting an overview of the ADEPT clonal population and contribution to writing “Genetic Stock and Germplasm Subcommittee Report”

• Assisted with test establishment and measurements
• Data management
• Wrote annual reports and gave formal presentations to members
• Interaction with members of tree improvement cooperative

• Responsible for breeding and grafting loblolly and slash pines for breeding program
• Responsible for slash pine clonal program including propagation and testing
• Responsible for growing 70-125,000 containerized seedlings, which included all aspects
  of greenhouse management
• Managed 70 + field trials including site selection, test establishment, maintenance, measurements, and selection of trees for advanced generation populations
• Prepared budgets, initiated contracts, and supervised technicians and contractors
• Representative for Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program, NCSU Rooted Cutting Program, NCSU Fusiform Rust Consortium
• Two-week training in vegetative propagation and clonal forestry with QFRI in Queensland, Australia

• Worked with a 5-year old hybrid larch progeny test, took field measurements of height, diameter at breast height, and ground line diameter
• Evaluated families based on field measurements, selected superior families
• Designed pollination bags, developed mating design, and control crossed European and Japanese larches for hybrid larch breeding program
• Supervised planting crew of a mixed spruce plantation
• Established hybrid larch test site

• Maintained silver maple provenance trials in Illinois, Kansas, and Minnesota (USA)
• Collected field data on silver maple
• Harvested trees for biomass
• Computer entry of data

• Participated in CU's cooperative work-study program for a semester
• Responsible for CU's replacement tree program
• Surveyed properties for any tree interference in the air space of overhead electrical lines
• Maintained tree farm, prepared sites for planting
• Organized Arbor Day planting of trees at elementary schools in Springfield, Missouri