Dr. Juan Manuel Hernández Casillas

 

Juan Manuel Hernández has been working at the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP) in Mexico since 1981 in the Genetic Resources program. He is the National Leader of Genetic Resources, and since he joined INIFAP he has worked in the Maize Germplasm Bank, where he develops activities related to some lines of research such as the conservation of genetic diversity of crops of economic importance; Study and utilization of maize genetic diversity in Mexico, Conservation and study of wild relatives of maize.
During his professional practice, he has carried out different activities such as the collection of creole maize in the Mexican Republic and its racial classification, characterization, and conservation; pre-improvement works aimed at the most efficient use of native maize in Mexico; some efforts in the collection, study, and conservation of the wild relatives of maize, mainly Teocintle.