Dry Bean Breeding and Computational Biology Open House - 2026

RSVP to drybeans@uoguelph.ca by Aug, 11, 2026. This will help us coordinate transportation and food arrangements. Please outline any dietary restrictions.

The afternoon will bring together researchers, growers, industry partners, government representatives, students, media, and members of the University community. The program will begin with lunch and networking at 1:00 p.m. in the lunch room, located through the southernmost door on the east side of the building, followed by field tours, graduate student presentations and research updates in dry bean breeding, disease resistance, phenomics, and artificial intelligence.

The program will include:

• Special remarks from Dr. John Cranfield, Dean of the Ontario Agricultural College
• A guided tour of the dry bean breeding program with Dr. Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi, including an overview of how computational biology is being integrated across the breeding pipeline
• Perspectives from John Fluttert, Mike Donnelly-Vanderloo, Steve Dinka, and Emily Boylan on agricultural research, industry, innovation, and collaboration across Ontario
• Graduate student research highlights in disease resistance, phenomics, sensory quality, and artificial intelligence
• A featured introduction to the first dry bean plants designed with the support of artificial intelligence

We hope you will join us for an afternoon in the field to see current research, meet the people behind the work, and take part in the conversation shaping the future of dry bean breeding.

Warm regards,

Dry Bean Breeding and Computational Biology Program

Department of Plant Agriculture

Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph