Zhiwu Zhang received his first PhD in Genetics & Breeding from Northeast Agriculture University (China) and the second PhD in Statistical Genetics from Michigan State University (USA). Dr. Zhang has long-term experience to develop statistical methods for mapping genes underlying complex traits and make genetic prediction at individual level. During his time at the Buckler Lab, he helped develop a statistical tool for association analysis by using mixed linear model in software TASSEL, which is widely used in the world for Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping. Its corresponding paper in Bioinformatics has received nearly a hundred citations. His interest of implementation to solve practical problems covered several species, including maize, rice, cattle, dog and human. Currently his major research interests include: 1) high throughput phenotyping by using hyperspectral images and remote sensing images from satellites and drones; 2) the development of innovative statistical methods and computing tools for gene mapping and genomic selection; 3) integration of high throughput genotyping, statistics, and machine learning to solve problems in plant breeding.

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Dr. Zhang is an associate professor in the department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Washington State University. 

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