2024 – 2025 Officers

President: Sheila Scheffel

Sheila Scheffel is a second-year Ph.D. student in the UIUC Small Grains Improvement group under Dr. Juan Arbelaez. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic architecture of heat stress in small grains and developing breeding strategies to improve heat tolerance and help ameliorate the effects of global warming. Sheila loves being outside, brewing and appreciating good beer, going out, reading, and most of all, enjoying family, friends and her beastly dog, Betty.

Vice President: Anup Dhakal

Anup Dhakal is PhD Student in the Small Grains Improvement Lab Lab under the supervision of Dr. Juan Arbelaez at the Department of Crop Sciences. His research focuses on improving oats' nutritional value and milling quality through phenomics, genomics, and metabolomics. He believes that CSGO provides an excellent opportunity to network with fellow graduate students.

Treasurer: Raysa Gevartosky

Raysa Gevartosky is a third-year Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently working in the Small Grains Improvement Lab under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Rutkoski, focusing on developing more efficient yield testing and selection methods that leverage high-throughput phenotyping and genomic selection. In her free time, Raysa loves spending quality time with friends and loved ones, trying new activities, and enjoying a good coffee.

Secretary & Social Chair: Peyton Sorensen

Peyton Sorensen is a first year PhD student in the Field Crop Pathology Group with Dr. Tiffany Jamann. Her research focuses on fine mapping a resistance gene in maize for bacterial leaf streak, as well as characterizing hydathode resistance to Goss’s wilt. In her free time, Peyton enjoys reading, running, knitting, spending time outdoors, and playing with her two cats, Bob and Toadstool.

Social Chair: Holly Anderson

Holly Anderson is a second-year master’s student studying plant genetics in the Juvik Lab. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic mechanisms influencing the production of health-promoting compounds in pigmented maize for use as nutraceuticals and natural food dyes. Holly enjoys playing volleyball and listening to live music.​

Networking Chair: Sam Leskanich

Sam Leskanich is a 2nd year PhD student in Dr. Fred Below’s Crop Physiology Lab. His research interests are focused on characterizing corn hybrid root architecture and how the root surface area, angle, and mass (SAAM) parameters are related to a hybrid’s yield response to a given management practice. Sam grew up on a family farm and has even started managing some of the acres for himself. After graduation, he plans on running a research farm in industry, and farming on the side. He enjoys watching Illini basketball and football in his spare time, as well as the Cubs, Bears, and Blackhawks.

Webmaster: Marcos Bonini Pires

Marcos Bonini Pires is a master’s student at Giovani Preza Fontes' lab, where his research focuses on the impact of cover crops on soil health and nutrient release. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil (2023). Marcos also worked as a research scholar at the Soil Microbial Agroecology Lab at Kansas State University (2022-2023), where he concentrated on analyzing biological and physical indicators of soil health. His research interests center on sustainable agriculture practices, including the use of cover crops, no-till farming, and organic fertilizers, all aimed at enhancing crop yields while preserving the environment. In his free time, Marcos enjoys outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, playing soccer, and photography.

Media Chair: Sofia Arista

Sophia Arista is a second-year M.S. student in the UIUC Small Grains group under Jessica Rutkoski. Her research focuses on monitoring winter dormancy release in Midwest-adapted winter wheat and developing UAV-based methods to improve the understanding of early season growth dynamics and enhance the selection process for resilient winter wheat varieties. In her free time, she enjoys reading, rewatching her favorite TV shows, driving, talking about her dog and dancing.

Teaching Committee Representative: Kayla Vittore

Kayla is a graduate student in the DK Lee Lab. Her research focus is sustainable agronomy and nitrogen efficiency. Kayla is currently a TA Liaison for CSGO, and the Graduate Representative on the Crop Sciences Graduate Program Committee. You are welcome to contact her via university email, kaylamv2@illinois.edu. Outside of graduate school, Kayla is a member of the Sola Gratia Farm (Non-Profit) Board of Directors and a hobbyist embroiderer. She is also passionate about teaching and has a certificate from CITL from her four semesters of experience as a TA. Kayla believes that organizations like CSGO are defined by their community, and is ready to assist fellow crop sciences students wherever possible.

Teaching Committee Representative: Finnleigh Woodings

Finnleigh is a PhD student in the soils lab. His focus is on soil organic matter and soil health, looking to improve our understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying healthy soils, and how we measure them. His current project focuses on identifying the volatile organic compounds responsible for the smells farmers perceive in healthy soils here in the Corn Belt. When not smelling soils, he enjoys baking bread and watching the Philadelphia Eagles (go birds).

Student Ambassadors: Devin Koester

Devin Koester is a third year master’s student focused on utilizing herbicide synergy to overcome metabolic resistance in C4 dicot weeds. He is specifically analyzing the synergistic effect of group 5 and group 27 herbicides to control metabolically resistant Palmer amaranth. Additionally, his research aims to evaluate the effects of prolonged weed interference on crop yield in progressive and traditional management systems for corn and soybeans. He hopes to improve herbicide efficacy and identify critical timings for weed management to positively impact longevity of chemistries in the market. In his free time, he owns and operates a small Charolais cattle operation in his hometown of Elizabeth, IL. He tries to enjoy Chicago Bears football, Chicago Cubs baseball, Chicago Blackhawks hockey, and fitting in a round of golf with friends when he can.

Student Ambassadors: Jeremy Logrono

Jeremy Logrono is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate focusing on plant breeding under the direction of Dr. Jessica Rutkoski. His research focuses on developing locally adapted, value-added wheat varieties using novel speed breeding and genomic selection strategies. Jeremy initiated the first value-added wheat breeding program, making the first crosses between Illinois soft wheat and heritage varieties with a range of kernel properties and colors to develop niche products for high-value markets. He was also one of the “OGs” who reactivated the CSGO team right after COVID-19. Jeremy aspires to become a plant breeder and work in the private sector. In his free time, Jeremy enjoys mountain biking, hiking, Muay Thai, camping, and exploring different ethnic cuisines.

Student Ambassador: Lucas Berger Munaro

Lucas Berger Munaro is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working under the supervision of Dr. Jessica Rutkoski. Lucas is committed to accelerating the enhancement of 'total net merit' in wheat for increased sustainability and profitability in Midwest agriculture. His research focuses on developing multi-trait selection strategies using selection index theory within the genomic prediction context. Additionally, he evaluates traits from longitudinal aerial image data to enhance selection accuracy. Lucas has been actively engaged in the Crop Sciences Graduate Student Organization, holding various leadership roles, including President, Networking Chair, Webmaster, and now Student Ambassador. In addition, he has served on the organizing committee of the UIUC Plant Sciences Symposium for the past three years. Upon graduation, Lucas intends to secure an industry position as an applied scientist in plant breeding. Beyond research, he enjoys outdoor activities such as running, hiking, camping, fishing, birding, and grilling a typical Brazilian barbecue.

Student Ambassador: Sagnika Das

Sagnika is a PhD candidate in Dr. Spencer's lab at INHS, UIUC. Her research is focused on developing innovative monitoring and management practices for Western Corn Rootworm. Joining CSGO has provided her opportunities for outreach, and skill-building. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and photography.

Student Ambassador: Sahil Redhu

Sahil is a Second-year master's student in Dr. Babadoost's lab, specializing in plant pathology. He earned his bachelor's degree with honors in agricultural sciences from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University. Currently, Sahil’s research focuses on the evaluation of the effectiveness of potential fungicides to control the growth of Phytophthora capsici in the laboratory and pumpkin field. Apart from research, he loves to interact with new people and play volleyball.

Student Ambassador: Sarah Lipps

Sarah Lipps is a fourth-year PhD candidate working under the supervision of Tiffany Jamann. Sarah’s research focuses on the quantitative genetics and potential mechanisms underlying resistance to Gibberella ear rot in maize. She has also collaborated with multiple growers part of the Genomes to Fields Initiative to explore the effect of environment on the occurrence of ear rots and mycotoxins. Sarah has been an active member of the Crop Sciences Graduate Student Organization. She was one of the original team of students who reactivated the organization after it had gone dormant during COVID19. Sarah’s long term career goals are to be a leader in demystifying mechanisms underlying plant-pathogen interactions. In her free time, Sarah is an active runner and can often be seen running with her two dogs. Sarah also enjoys camping, hiking, and trail running.