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Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences bannerContact Us linkSearch Site linkSite Map linkCTAHR News linkCTAHR Home link

Dr. James L. Brewbaker
Professor of Horticulture and Genetics
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Contact Information:

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences
3190 Maile Way, St. John 102
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822-2279

Office: St. John 209
Telephone: (808) 956-7985, (Farm: 259-8685)
Fax: (808) 956-3894

email: brewbake@hawaii.edu
photo of Dr. James L. Brewbaker
Educational Background
  • Ph.D. Cornell University (1952)
  • B.S. University of Colorado (1948)
  • Undergrad studies (US Navy), SMU, U. Texas (1945-6)
Research Interests
  • Supersweet corn breeding for tropics
  • Breeding silage and grain corn hybrids for pesticide-free production in Hawaii
  • Maize germplasm development, near-isogenic and recombinant inbred lines
  • Varietal and hybrid development of forage and arboreal Leucaena spp.
  • Acacia koa varietal selection for quality and wilt resistance
Post-doctoral and Sabbatical Studies
  • Post-doc, US NSF, Univ. of Lund, Sweden (1952-3)
  • Plant Breeding faculty, Univ. Philippines Los Baños (1953-5)
  • Post-doc, US Atomic Energy Commission, Brookhaven Nat’l. Lab (1956-61)
  • Indian Agric. Research Inst., Dept. Botany, Delhi (1960)
  • Sabbatical Leaves: Kasetsart Univ., Bangkok (1967-8); Philippine Atomic Energy Comm. (1970); Cornell Univ. (1973); Taiwan Agric. Res. Ctr., Taichung (1979); Australia Nat’l Univ., Canberra (1985); Internat’l Inst. Trop. Agric., Nigeria (1989); Univ. Queensland, Brisbane (1993); CIMMYT, Mexico (1997); Pingtung Nat’l Univ. Sci. Tech., Taiwan (2000); Queensland Dept. Primary Industry, Kairi (2004)
Courses and Academic Interests
  • TPSS 421 - Tropical Seed Science
  • TPSS 603 - Experimental Designs
  • TPSS 615 - Quantitative Genetics
  • Graduate thesis advisor; 27 MS and 24 PhD graduates of Univ. Hawaii
  • Textbook development; “Experimental Design on a Spreadsheet”, “Quantitative Genetics on a Spreadsheet”, “Biometry on a Spreadsheet” (all ed. 2003-4)
Current Projects
  • TPSS 815 - Seedless Leucaena Trees (Triploid, interspecific hybrids)
  • TPSS 803 – Tropical N-fixing tree improvement (Breeding koa trees, wilt resistance)
  • TPSS 864 – Sweet corn improvement (disease tolerant hybrids)
  • TPSS 866 – Tropical corn quantitative genetics (mapping quantitative trait loci, breeding silage and grain hybrids)
Recent Publications
  • Sorensson, C.T. and J. L. Brewbaker. 1994. Interspecific compatibility among 15 Leucaena species (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) via artificial hybridization. Amer. J. Bot. 81:240-247.
  • Brewbaker, J. L. 1998. Disease-resistant tropical sweet corn populations. HortSci 33:1262-1264.
  • Brewbaker, J. L. and W. G. Sun. 1999. Trees and heterosis. In J. G. Coors and Shivaji Pandey (eds.) The Genetics and Exploitation of Heterosis in Crops. Amer. Soc. Agronomy, Madison, WI. pp. 463-477.
  • Brewbaker, J. L. 1999. Commemorative Volume, Maydica; Volume 44(4):263-384. Eight articles on maize genetics and breeding, including: Zan, G.H. and J.L. Brewbaker. 1999. Seed quality of isogenic endosperm mutants in sweet corn. Maydica 44:271-277; Moon, H. G., J. L.
  • Brewbaker and X.W. Lu. 1999. Major QTLs for disease and insect resistance identified among recombinant inbred lines from tropical maize hybrids. Maydica 44:301-311. Nourse, S. M., A.
  • Elings and J. L. Brewbaker. 1999. Quantitative trait loci associated with lime-induced chlorosis in recombinant inbred lines of maize. Maydica 44:293-299.
  • Wang, B. and J.L. Brewbaker. 2001. Quantitative trait loci affecting pericarp thickness of corn kernels. Maydica 46:159-165.
  • Brewbaker, J.L. and B.T. Scully. 2002. NE-EDRsu1 and NE-EDRbt1, disease-resistant sweet corn populations with sugary1 and brittle1 endosperms. HortSci. 37(3):600-602.
  • Brewbaker, J.L. 2003. Corn Production in the Tropics – The Hawaii Experience. CTAHR, UH Manoa, Honolulu. 74 pp.
  • Brewbaker, J.L. 2003. Nitrogen fixing tree improvement and culture. Encyclopedia of Forest Science (in press)
  • Brewbaker, J.L. 2004. Trilogy of Manuals on Spreadsheet; Biometry on a Spreadsheet, Experimental Design on a Spreadsheet and Quantitative Genetics on Spreadsheet. Brewbaker, Kailua, Hawaii.
Other Interests
  • Vocal music (bass); Honolulu Symphony Chorus
  • Hawaii Forest Industry Ass’n. (Secretary of Board)
  • Memberships include: Amer. Soc. Agronomy, Amer. Soc. Horticultural Science, Western Forest Genetics Ass’n, International Sweet Corn Development Ass’n, Sigma Xi (former Hi. Pres.), Hawaii Acad. Sci. (Former Hi. Pres.)
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Last updated on 2/27/2004