Large database breeding pipeline managers Ana Heilman-Morales and Thomas Walk have joined the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences.

Heilman-Morales and Walk will assist NDSU plant improvement teams in entering, managing, safeguarding and analyzing phenotype and genotype data using a variety of tools, including relational databases, software packages and custom scripts.

Heilman-Morales is originally from Colombia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. She earned a master’s degree in plant biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and doctorate in plant sciences from NDSU. She worked as a data manager for three years at Latin America North at Monsanto in St. Louis prior to joining NDSU.

Walk earned his master’s degree in plant pathology from the University of Missouri and his doctorate in plant physiology from Penn State University. As a doctoral student, he started computer programming, and since graduating has worked primarily in bioinformatics, software development and systems administration at several research institutes.

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