Dr. Jessica Rutkoski is a small grains breeder and a quantitative geneticist with a passion for putting the principles and techniques of quantitative genetics and statistics to use in applied breeding to accelerate rates of genetic gain in ways that benefit people and the environment. As the wheat breeder at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Rutkoski develops winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding lines that can enhance the profitability of the wheat-soybean double cropping system of Illinois and surrounding states. Before joining the University of Illinois, Dr. Rutkoski worked on plant breeding projects in Mexico and in the Philippines. Prior to her international work, she received her Ph.D. at Cornell University and her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.