Barley Team

Dr. Jamie Sherman

Barley Program Director - Barley Breeder

[email protected] - 406-994-5055

Jamie Sherman is the barley breeder at Montana State University.   Her program is developing new varieties for all barley end-uses including food, forage and feed, but a primary focus is on developing lines with improved malt quality.   Towards that goal, she has developed a fully functional malt quality lab  not only to support the breeding program, but also to support the developing craft malting industry. 

Hannah Turner

Barley, Malt & Brewing Lab

Director

[email protected]

406-599-2189

Hannah has been involved in plant science research for the past decade, receiving both bachelors and Masters distinctions, and has acted as Director of the Montana State University Barley, Malt & Brewing Quality Lab since 2016. The Lab performs both research and service, providing data for the Universities’ Barley Breeding Program and industry members across the barley value network. Hannah works closely with the American Society of Brewing Chemist’s and the Craft Maltster's Guild heading initiatives improving malt testing methods and leading educational programs. When not in the lab, Hannah spends time enjoying Montana with her family.

Greg Lutgen

Field & Seed Lab

Manager

[email protected]

 858-442-7618

Greg was born in San Diego, California and graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a degree in Field Biology. After spending a year studying an endangered marine grass, Zostera marina, he moved to Bozeman where he soon joined the barley breeding team. As the field technician he manages the plants during the growing season and oversees the collection of all the program's agronomic data. When not at the Post Farm or in the Seed Lab, you can always find him fishing the Gallatin River.

Karina Edwards

Barley, Malt & Brewing Lab

Research Assistant

[email protected]

406-994-6682

Karina grew up in rural Massachusetts before receiving her BS in biology at Clemson University in South Carolina. After college, she moved to Philadelphia to pursue a career in small molecule purification and biological mass-spectrometry. Her love for the outdoors brought her to Montana where she joined the Montana State University Barley, Malt and Brewing Quality Lab. Karina is currently working as a Research Associate analyzing grains, malt and hops for farmers, maltsters, and brewers across the country. The barley team is the perfect place to combine her passions for science, nature, and beer!

Bruce McMahon

Academic Brewing Research Assistant

[email protected]

406-994-6682

Bruce McMahon has a BS in Fermentation Science from the University of California at Davis and an MS in Professional Accountancy from Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado.  He has 13 years of experience with Anheuser-Busch in Research, Brewing, and Quality Assurance.  He is currently a Research Assistant at the Barley, Malt, and Brewing Lab at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

Jessica Williams

PhD Candidate

[email protected]

Jessica grew up in Golden, Colorado (home of Coors beer!) She received her bachelor’s in biology from the University of Denver where she became interested in plants and genetics. After college she spent several years working in Drosophila (fruit fly) labs, which taught her a great deal about genetics. She also jumped at any opportunity to volunteer on small farms and eventually started working for the barley breeding program as a field assistant at the Post agronomy farm. This led to her beginning a graduate program with the barley lab. She studies the genetics and physiology of root systems and their interactions with microbes with the goal of improving drought tolerance in Montana barley.

Joseph Jensen

PhD Candidate

[email protected]

Trevor Palone

Masters Candidate

[email protected]

585-356-4210

Trevor grew up working with his family’s landscaping company in Buffalo, New York where his interest in working with plants first developed. He received his bachelor’s in Horticulture from Temple University where his admiration for the plant sciences continued to blossom through further education on plant physiological functions and plant-environment interactions; a time where he also discovered the hobby of homebrewing. After college he spent 4 years professionally brewing beer in various craft beer industry market segments (farm brewery, brewpub and regional brewery). This led to him pursing a Master’s Degree in Plant Sciences and joining the Barley Breeding Program at Montana State University with the goal of combining his experiences to develop malting-type barley that is resilient to the current constraining impacts on the agriculture, malt, and beer production value chain.

Janaki Mahat

Masters Candidate

[email protected]

Janaki Mahat, a graduate student from Nepal, is a dedicated agricultural professional committed to ensuring food security for communities. She completed her undergraduate degree in agriculture from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Following her bachelor's degree, Janaki seized an internship opportunity at the Sedot Negev Agriculture Training Centre in Israel, where she gained invaluable insights into agricultural practices in arid landscapes, reinforcing her belief that challenges are opportunities for growth.

Coming from a farming background, Janaki witnessed firsthand challenges crops face due to pests and diseases. Motivated to contribute to resilient crop development, she pursued a Master’s Degree in Plant Sciences program and joined Barley Breeding lab at Montana State University. Currently, Janaki is actively involved in a research project aimed at identifying genes resistant to wheat stem sawfly in barley, furthering her commitment to agricultural innovation and community welfare.

Jaye Griffin

Lab - Student Assistant

Teigen Nelson

Undergraduate Researcher

Focused on molecular techniques, Teigen assists the barley program with research questions such as genetic marker assisted selection for breeding as well as forage nitrate testing and screening for non-GN lines for distilling.

Sam Marshman

Lab - Student Assistant

Sophie Walter

Lab - Student Assistant