Shannon Baker, Ph.D., an assistant research scientist with Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Canyon, Texas, was among three scientists worldwide selected for the 2026 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Early Career Award. The honor was presented at the 4th International Wheat Congress in Bologna, Italy.
Baker works within the Texas High Plains wheat and triticale breeding pipeline, where she integrates unmanned aerial systems, high-throughput phenotyping and advanced data analytics to improve how wheat is evaluated and selected. Her work is focused on accelerating cultivar development for both drought-prone and irrigated production systems.
She has more than two decades of service with AgriLife Research, including 16 years in the wheat breeding program, and is based at the Texas A&M AgriLife High Plains Research and Extension Center in Canyon.
Her contributions have centered on combining aerial imaging and time-series data analysis with traditional plant breeding to improve selection accuracy and better understand genotype-by-environment interactions. The approach is aimed at producing higher-yielding, more resilient wheat varieties for changing production conditions.
Baker also serves as education coordinator for the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture WheatCAP program, where she leads national training efforts in phenotyping, scientific communication and student professional development. She recently completed her doctorate at Texas A&M University, where her research focused on UAS-based phenotyping and modeling tools to support wheat breeding decisions.
Within the broader wheat research community, Baker’s work supports collaborative capacity-building initiatives in the United States and abroad, with an emphasis on training the next generation of plant scientists and strengthening global food security.
Texas A&M AgriLife Research leaders said her work has had a broad impact across the wheat improvement community, citing her technical expertise, mentorship and leadership in applied breeding science.
The Women in Triticum Early Career Award supports early-stage wheat researchers through mentorship, training and leadership development. Along with Baker, the 2026 recipients include Katharina Jung of Germany and Bernice Ngina Waweru of Kenya.
The awardees were recognized for research spanning aerial phenotyping, genetic diversity and disease-resistance genomics, all aimed at improving wheat’s resilience to disease, drought and climate stress, according to the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.
The program is named in honor of Jeanie Borlaug Laube and reflects the legacy of Norman E. Borlaug in advancing global food security through wheat research and innovation.
Source: Texas A&M AgriLife, "AgriLife Research scientist receives international Borlaug early career award"