Grants and Contributions:

1) Estimate with various genetic marker sets the breeding values of growth and wood quality traits of various white and black spruce populations with the aim to make genomic selection methodology accessible to existing breeding programs ; 2) Estimate the impact of factors such as relatedness on yield of progenies produced in seed orchards; 3) Train highly-qualified personnel (postdoctoral fellows) in development and implementation of genomic selection for desirable fibre attributes in spruces; 4) Generate knowledge relative to Canadian tree species that can be transferred through scientific articles or presentations at national and international conferences.