Cholani Weebadde

Cholani K. Weebadde

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Associate Professor - Plant Breeder for International Programs
Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

Degrees:
Ph.D., Michigan State University, Genetics and Plant Breeding

Cholani Weebadde is an associate professor and plant breeder for international programs at Michigan State University (MSU). Trained in genetics, plant breeding, and biotechnology, she is dedicated to training the next generation of plant breeders as hunger fighters.

After graduating with her PhD from MSU, Cholani worked in international agriculture outreach for over a decade and then moved on to research, teaching, and outreach activities as a faculty member with the Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences (PSM) Department. She currently holds a 100% teaching appointment but continues to maintain a strawberry breeding and research program to provide hands-on training to graduate and undergraduate students. Her international graduate students have focused on crops and traits of national importance for their graduate degree research. As a result of her lifelong passion for training plant breeders, she has developed a curriculum to launch Global Plant Breeding, a brand new fast-track (4 semesters) online master’s program in Spring 2025.

As a graduate student who dual-majored in the Genetics and Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) programs and benefits from the global knowledge networks built and nurtured at MSU as a faculty member, she appreciates and wants to use the platforms and visibility that MSU provides to transfer plant breeding knowledge and expertise across borders through online education.

Meeting Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Man who fed the world, as a student and as a faculty member at MSU, was an inspiration for Cholani to realize the power of a plant breeder to make a difference. She believes that plant breeders have a larger role to play and hopes to inspire others to join in her efforts to educate the next generation as we strive to feed a hungry world.