The Dry Bean Breeding and Computational Biology Program is delighted to invite you to its 2026 Open House on Monday, August 17, at the Elora Research Station.
Please reserve your spot by August 11 by emailing RESERVE to drybeans@uoguelph.ca. This will help us coordinate transportation and food arrangements. Please outline any dietary restrictions.
The afternoon will bring together researchers, growers, industry partners, government representatives, students, media, and members of the University community. The program will begin with lunch and networking at 1:00 p.m. in the Elora Crops Research Station lunch room, located through the southernmost door on the east side of the building, followed by field tours, graduate student presentations, and research updates in dry bean breeding, disease resistance, phenomics, and artificial intelligence.
The program will include:
- Special remarks from Dr. John Cranfield, Dean of the Ontario Agricultural College
- A guided tour of the dry bean breeding program with Dr. Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi, including an overview of how computational biology is being integrated across the breeding pipeline
- Perspectives from John Fluttert, Mike Donnelly-Vanderloo, Steve Dinka, and Emily Boylan on agricultural research, industry, innovation, and collaboration across Ontario
- Graduate student research highlights in disease resistance, phenomics, sensory quality, and artificial intelligence
- A featured introduction to the first dry bean plants designed with the support of artificial intelligence
Transportation from the University of Guelph main campus will be available. Guests using the bus are asked to meet in front of the University Centre by 12:20 p.m. The bus will depart for Elora at 12:30 p.m.
Please see the attached agenda for the full program.
We hope you will join us for an afternoon in the field to see current research, meet the people behind the work, and take part in the conversation shaping the future of dry bean breeding.
