Plant Breeder/ Growing and cultivation management

Over zichzelf

While studying for my BSc in Biotechnology at University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine in Romania, I developed a particular interest for plants research. After completing my BA, I undertook an MSc in Plant Breeding at Unilasalle University in France. For my MSc thesis  I was responsible for monitoring an innovative potato pot trial under short-day conditions in the greenhouse, where the main purpose of it was to observe if the cultivars, adapted to European conditions, will reach the maturity faster under 12h of light , but also to find out if, for potato, the extended light (22h-light), in fully enclosed, controlled-environment growth chambers, could accelerate plant development for research purposes and allow rapid generation cycling. With this occasion, I have learned technical aspects about greenhouses and how factors as light and temperature could influence the growing system of a potato plant.

Being part of the European Plant Breeding College, I had the opportunity to study for two weeks at Ege University in Turkey, where I have taken theoretical courses on vegetable seeds. The main aspects were breeding methods for horticultural crops such as grape, pomegranate, citrus, tomato, pepper, lettuce, cucumber and field crops such as wheat, sunflower and rice. This journey had brought me passion for plants and research, especially in the horticulture sector, but also taught me about the seed production and marketing in different sectors of this area. To learn more about plant biotechnology, plant-hormone interaction, but also statistics and bioinformatics, I applied for a scholarship in Bioscience Engineering: Cell and Gene Biotechnology at Gent University. There I deepened my knowledge in plant physiology for horticultural crops and in setting up the experiments, reporting and explaining the obtained results. Moreover, I have been in contact with modern breeding techniques and learned about the latest innovations in greenhouses.

For the moment I am working as a potato breeder and plant pathologist in The Netherlands. In this period, I developed responsibilities for running all the research projects in the quarantine lab regarding the wart disease and potato cyst nematodes, activities which have taught me how to manage a team, to prioritize tasks and solve the problems. I independently carry out all the experiments in the lab, collecting the data, interpreting the results and writing scientific reports. As a breeder, I collaborate and communicate efficiently with other departments such as molecular biologists and biotechnologists, but also product managers and salespersons. 

I like making plans, coordinate and organize different activities in a department. I am focused to work in a multinational company because of the exposure to different cultures, the different challenges I will face and opportunities I will have, which will help me develop professionally and on a personal level. I am willing to travel to different locations and learn new languages or further improve the ones I already know. I am a persistent person with strong orientation on goals. During my undergraduate and graduate studies, I have always been among top 10% in the class. Moreover, throughout my studies both on bachelor and on master level I have been a holder of state scholarship offered to most prospective students.

I am a person that adapts quickly to any circumstances and I am very enthusiastic to work with state-of-the-art technology, discuss and share new ideas and create a positive impact in the department. I am a responsible person, very ambitious, cooperative, willingness to learn, very attentive to details and hard worker.