About Me

I grew up in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago, with my parents, younger sister, and two cats.

I enjoy outdoor activities like golf, tennis, and hiking. When I am not outside, I like to crochet, embroider, and dabble in 3D modeling. I try to learn new hobbies whenever I can.

I look forward to finding a career where I can continue to engage my love of plants, people, and problem-solving.

In my time at the University of Alabama, I was fortunate to encounter opportunities both academically and socially. I was the vice president of the Outdoor Adventures Club, helping to organize caving trips and hikes for the club’s hundreds of members. I also worked in two different labs at UA, where I learned the basics of research and contributed to several publications. During my two internships with Syngenta, I experienced the industry side of research, which has been invaluable as I progress through my professional journey.

I am excited to continue learning in Dr. Chavez’s lab at UGA, where I am be seeking to improve US peach cultivation by developing new tools for germplasm evaluation and using them to help bring new, improved peach cultivars to farmers.

I look forward to seeing what’s next as I continue to explore the fields of agriculture and horticulture!

University of Alabama

Awards

University of Alabama’s Presidential Scholarship
Graduated Summa Cum Laude, with Honors, 3.98 GPA
Presented at UA’s URCA conference and at Botany Conference 2021

Leadership

Vice President of the Outdoor Adventures Club, 2021

University of Georgia

Awards

University of Georgia Graduate School Master’s Fellow Award
John Ingle Innovation in Plant Breeding Award 2024
2nd Place in the MS Student Presentation Competition at the Southeast Professional Fruit Workers’ Conference 2024
2nd Place in the Norman F. Childers MS Student Paper Competition at the Southern Region ASHS Annual Conference 2025
Presented a poster at SR ASHS 2025
Presented a poster at UGA’s IPBGG Retreat

Leadership

Student Leadership Council, UGA Griffin Campus, 2024-25
Boerma Plant Breeding for Excellence Lecture Planning Committee, 2025

Publications

Founding Cultivars and Genetic Contributions of the Moderate Chill Peach UGA-UF-USDA Breeding Program – currently pending review – C. McCann, P. Conner, J.X. Chaparro, T.G. Beckman, Jeekin Lau, D.J. Chavez
Fine-scale variation of nuclear and chloroplast genomes in a Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) population. – published abstract - Busby, Andrew, Caitlin E. McCann, William A. Laycock, Kayln N. Pate, Nate Hofford, M’Kayla Motley, and Michael McKain. “Fine-scale Variation of Nuclear and Chloroplast Genomes in a Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) Population.” Poster presented at the Botany 2021 Conference, Virtual, July 21, 2021.
Target genotyping using Capture-Seq technology to characterize the population structure and phylogenetic relationships of peaches from Australia and other parts of the world. – published abstract – Caitlin McCann, J.X. Chaparro, Bruce Topp, Dougal M. Russell, Jeekin Lau, Jordan Knapp-Wilson, Rachel Itle, and D.J. Chavez – poster presented at 2025 SR ASHS Conference

--- title: "About Me" format: html: toc: true code-tools: source: true toggle: false caption: none --- ::: column-margin ![](Images_files%5Clalapalooza1.jpg){width="145"} ::: ::::: {.profile-header layout="[30,70]"} ::: column ![](Images_files%5Cmonumentvalley.jpg){width="216"} ::: ::: column I grew up in Downers Grove, a suburb of Chicago, with my parents, younger sister, and two cats. I enjoy outdoor activities like golf, tennis, and hiking. When I am not outside, I like to crochet, embroider, and dabble in 3D modeling. I try to learn new hobbies whenever I can. I look forward to finding a career where I can continue to engage my love of plants, people, and problem-solving. ::: ::::: In my time at the University of Alabama, I was fortunate to encounter opportunities both academically and socially. I was the vice president of the Outdoor Adventures Club, helping to organize caving trips and hikes for the club's hundreds of members. I also worked in two different labs at UA, where I learned the basics of research and contributed to several publications. During my two internships with Syngenta, I experienced the industry side of research, which has been invaluable as I progress through my professional journey. I am excited to continue learning in Dr. Chavez's lab at UGA, where I am be seeking to improve US peach cultivation by developing new tools for germplasm evaluation and using them to help bring new, improved peach cultivars to farmers. I look forward to seeing what's next as I continue to explore the fields of agriculture and horticulture! ## University of Alabama ### Awards - University of Alabama's Presidential Scholarship - Graduated Summa Cum Laude, with Honors, 3.98 GPA - Presented at [UA's URCA conference and at Botany Conference 2021](Images_files\Busby_McCann_Botany2021_final.pdf) ### Leadership - Vice President of the Outdoor Adventures Club, 2021 ## University of Georgia ### Awards - University of Georgia Graduate School Master's Fellow Award - John Ingle Innovation in Plant Breeding Award 2024 - 2nd Place in the MS Student Presentation Competition at the Southeast Professional Fruit Workers' Conference 2024 - 2nd Place in the Norman F. Childers MS Student Paper Competition at the Southern Region ASHS Annual Conference 2025 - Presented a poster at [SR ASHS 2025](Images_files\SR%20ASHS%20Poster.pdf) - Presented a poster at [UGA's IPBGG Retreat](Images_files\PBGGRetreat2024McCannPDF.pdf) ### Leadership - Student Leadership Council, UGA Griffin Campus, 2024-25 - Boerma Plant Breeding for Excellence Lecture Planning Committee, 2025 ### Publications - **Founding Cultivars and Genetic Contributions of the Moderate Chill Peach UGA-UF-USDA Breeding Program** – currently pending review – C. McCann, P. Conner, J.X. Chaparro, T.G. Beckman, Jeekin Lau, D.J. Chavez - **Fine-scale variation of nuclear and chloroplast genomes in a Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) population.** – published abstract - Busby, Andrew, Caitlin E. McCann, William A. Laycock, Kayln N. Pate, Nate Hofford, M'Kayla Motley, and Michael McKain. "Fine-scale Variation of Nuclear and Chloroplast Genomes in a Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) Population." Poster presented at the Botany 2021 Conference, Virtual, July 21, 2021. - **Target genotyping using Capture-Seq technology to characterize the population structure and phylogenetic relationships of peaches from Australia and other parts of the world.** – published abstract – Caitlin McCann, J.X. Chaparro, Bruce Topp, Dougal M. Russell, Jeekin Lau, Jordan Knapp-Wilson, Rachel Itle, and D.J. Chavez – poster presented at 2025 SR ASHS Conference