Keenan Amundsen

Avatar for Keenan Amundsen

Keenan Amundsen

Professor Agronomy & Horticulture University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
KEIM 134
Lincoln, NE 68583-0915
Phone
402-472-8390 On-campus 2-8390
Email
kamundsen2@unl.edu
Website
Website
Website

Research Interests:

  • Buffalograss breeding and genetics
  • Turfgrass, hops, and ornamental pearl millet cultivar development
  • Identify management practices to maximize crop productivity and profitability for our producers
  • Develop genetic tools to improve plant breeding methods used for buffalograss improvement

Major Project Activities:

My lab is focused on specialty crop breeding and genetics with special emphasis given to buffalograss.  We routinely apply genetic and computational biology tools to develop molecular markers, identify molecular marker-trait associations, discriminate genotypes, and resolve genetic relationships.  The data is used to inform plant breeding decisions allowing for more efficient selection throughout the plant breeding process.

 

Education

  • B.S. Mathematics, Alma College, 1998
  • B.S. Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, 1998
  • M.S. Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, 2003
  • Ph.D. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, George Mason University, 2010


     

Publications:

  • Amaradasa, B.S., and K. Amundsen. 2016. Characterization of defense-related genes of buffalograss challenged with the leaf spot pathogen Curvularia inaequalis. Frontiers in Plant Science DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00715
  • Amaradasa, B., H. Madrid, J.Z. Groenewald, P.W. Crous, K. Amundsen. 2014. Porocercospora seminalis gen. et comb. nov., the causal organism of buffalograss false smut. Mycologia 106(1):77-85.
  • Amundsen, K.L., L. Li, R. Shearman, R. Gaussoin. 2017. Addressing misperceptions regarding buffalograss tolerance to sandy soils, traffic, and shade. International Turfgrass Research Journal 13:1-6 doi: 10.2134/itsrj2016.05.0347
  • Amundsen, K., Sarath, G., Donze-Reiner, T., eds. 2017. Genomic Approaches for Improvement of Understudied Grasses. Lausanne: Frontiers Media. doi: 10.3389/978-2-88945-242-2
  • Bushman, S., K. Amundsen, S. Warnke, J. Robins, P. Johnson. 2016. Transcriptome Profiling of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) Accessions in Response to Salt Stress. BMC Genomics 17:48. DOI: 10.1186/s12864-016-2379-x