Anthony Kern, associate professor of biology and academic chair of the Regina Roth Applied Agricultural and Food Studies Program,was awarded a competitive grant subcontract to continue developing the wild American hazelnut into a viable perennial crop for the Upper Midwest.

Anthony Kern, associate professor of biology and academic chair of the Regina Roth Applied Agricultural and Food Studies Program at Morningside College, recently was awarded a competitive grant subcontract to continue developing the wild American hazelnut into a viable perennial crop for the Upper Midwest.

The inter-institution hazelnut breeding program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kern was awarded the competitive grant subcontract with the University of Minnesota. He is working on the genetics of the plant and was funded for $92,000.

For more information on this project, go to www.midwesthazelnuts.org.

Kern joined the faculty at Morningside College in 2012. He has a doctorate in plant genetics from Montana State University in Bozeman.