Jon Turkus

Jonathan Turkus is a High-Throughput Molecular Biology Technician and the Research Manager for the Schnable Lab at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). He holds a B.S. in Biology from Hope College and an M.S. in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology from the Michigan State University, where he work on wheat breeding and genetics. At the Schnable Lab, Jonathan plays a key role in high-throughput phenotyping efforts, including a nationwide gene-function initiative funded by ARPA-E. In 2024, he developed a sampling protocol that enabled the collection of 2,400 tissue samples in under two hours using a custom spill-proof tray system. He also manages multi-location field experiments and uses tools like Trello and Microsoft To-Do to streamline logistics. His work advances efficient data collection and supports cutting-edge research in crop genetics.

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Recent Publications

Creach M, Webster B, Newton L, Turkus J, Schnable JC, Thompson AM, VanBuren R (2025) Predicting complex phenotypes using multi-omics data in maize. bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2025.09.30.679283 bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2025.09.30.679283 Preprint
Zaremehrjerdi H, Coffey L, Jubery T, Liu H, Turkus J, Linders K, Schnable JC, Schnable PS, Ganapathysubramanian B (2025) MaizeEar-SAM: Zero-shot maize ear phenotyping. arXiv doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2502.13399 Preprint
Shrestha N, Powadi A, Davis J, Ayanlade TT, Liu H, Tross MC, Mathivanan RK, Bares J, Lopez-Corona L, Turkus J, Coffey L, Tubery TZ, Ge Y, Sarkar S, Schnable JC, Ganapathysubramanian B, Schnable PS (2025) Plot-level satellite imagery can substitute for UAVs in assessing maize phenotypes across multistate field trials. Plants Planet People doi: 10.1002/ppp3.10613 agriRxiv doi: 10.31220/agriRxiv.2024.00251
Mangal H, Linders K, Turkus J, Shrestha N, Long B, Kuang X, Cebert E, Torres-Rodriguez JV, Schnable JC (2025) Genes and pathways determining flowering time variation in temperate adapted sorghum. The Plant Journal doi: 10.1111/tpj.70250 bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2024.12.12.628249
Sun G, Mural RV, Turkus JD, Schnable JC (2021) Quantitative resistance loci to southern rust mapped in a temperate maize diversity panel. Phytopathology doi: 10.1101/2021.04.02.438220 bioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2021.04.02.438220