History of the Program

The first full-time researcher was stationed at the San Luis Valley Research Center in 1956. Mr. James Twomey conducted a potato selection program based on seedling tubers from other programs around the US, primarily the USDA in Beltsville, MD and Prosser, WA. In 1979, under the leadership of David Holm, the Colorado State University Potato Breeding and Selection Program was initiated. As the program evolved, the number of first year seedlings planted for selection grew from approximately 40,000 to 90,000-100,000. Centennial Russet was named in 1976. This was the first cultivar released by Jim Twomey during what may be referred to as the modern area of the Program. Since that time, another 27 cultivars/clonal selections have been released including russets, reds, specialties, and chippers. Another 19 cultivars have been cooperatively released with various universities, the USDA-ARS, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Dr. David Holm retired in July 2021. In the Spring of 2022, Dr. Jessica Chitwood-Brown was hired as the potato breeder and program leader for the CSU Potato Breeding and Selection Program. Dr. Chitwood-Brown left CSU to become the tomato breeder at the University of Florida in 2024.

Personnel

Caroline Gray
Caroline is originally from Virginia Beach, VA. She received her B.S. (1998) and M.S. (2001) from Virginia Tech. She worked as a Research Associate for the Soybean Breeding Programs at Virginia Tech (2001-2004) and at the University of Arkansas (2004-2010). She is currently the Assistant Program Lead for the Potato Breeding Program at Colorado State University located at the San Luis Valley Research Center.

Beth Messier
Beth is originally from Blair, NE. She received her B.S. (2015) in Plant Biology specializing in Biotechnology and M.S. (2021) in Agronomy with a Statistics minor from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. During her time at UNL she worked with the Turfgrass Program, specifically for the Buffalograss Breeding Program. Beth is a Research Associate working for the Potato Breeding and Selection at Colorado State University located at the San Luis Valley Research Center.

Kyah Voelker
Kyah is originally from Palmer Lake, CO. She received her B.S. in Wildlife and Conservation Biology from Western Colorado University in 2022 and would someday like to pursue a master’s degree. She began as a non-student hourly in January 2023 and now works as a full-time Research Associate I for CSU’s Potato Breeding Program and the Tissue Culture lab in the San Luis Valley.

Mitzi Cisneros
Mitzi is originally from San Luis Valley of Colorado. She received her associate degree (2013) from Trinidad State Junior College in Cosmetology. She has worked for the Potato Breeding Program since 2006. She started as a non-student hourly and is now a Research Associate, working part-time at the San Luis Valley Research Center. Mitzi also owns and operates her own business, Studio625, a salon in Del Norte, CO.

We offer paid summer internships for high school and college students. Complete the Contact Us form on the left to request an application.

 Former Graduate Students

Esra Yilmaz. Characterizing the Link Between Cytoplasmic Male Sterility and PVY Resistance in Potato Read more

Olga Tikhonova. The Influence of Genotype, Environment, and Storage Time on the Ascorbic Acid Content and Retention in Potato Germplasm from the Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program Read more

Greg Hess. Understanding Resistance to Necrotic Viruses in CSU Potato Germplasm with Genetic Markers and Virus Detection by MALDI-MS Biotyping Read more

Jeremy Logrono.  Assessment of Methods to Screen for Carotenoids in Yellow-Fleshed Potato Germplasm Read more

Katie Larson. Color, Carotenoid Content and Sensory Perceptions in Potato Germplasm from the Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program Read more

Sara Kammlade. The Influence of Agromanagement on Soil Health and Potato Mineral Nutrients Read more

Raven Bough. Screening Potato Germplasm for Flavor Utilizing HS-SPME/GC-MS and Sensory Panel Analyses Read more

Katrina Zavislan. Using Participatory Plant Breeding Strategies to Obtain Gardener Feedback in a Potato Breeding Program Read more

Impacts

Colorado State University released 30 potato cultivars, including five clonal selections, and cooperated with other agencies in the release of another 19 potato cultivars. Colorado cultivars and clonal selections accounted for 25% of the 7,679 acres of Colorado certified seed accepted for certification in 2024. Advanced Colorado selections accounted for another 0.3% of the seed acreage.

The Colorado State University Potato Improvement Program is committed to developing potato varieties with disease resistance (PVY, PMTV, TVR) and climate resilience with the goal of reducing inputs such as Nitrogen and water. The CSU potato program will continue to use applied and molecular breeding techniques to make selections and identify key traits.

Collaborative Research

The Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program relies on the invaluable cooperation of growers, shippers, research and extension personnel to assess the production, adaptability, marketability, and other characteristics of advanced selections and is essential to the success of this program.

Collaborators and areas of collaboration are:

• Mohamad Chikh-Ali – Disease Screening and Evaluation
• Samuel Essah – Cultivar Specific Production Management
• Sastry Jayanty – Cultivar Specific Postharvest Management and Physiology (including nutritional characteristics and health attributes)
• Andrew Houser – Potato Certification Service
• Vamsi Nalam – Agricultural Biology
• Colorado Potato Growers
• Colorado Potato Administrative Committee
• Colorado Certified Potato Growers’ Association
• Southwest Regional Potato Breeding and Cultivar Development Cooperators (Colorado, Texas, and California). The overall objective of this research group is to develop and evaluate improved potato cultivars to meet the production, marketing, and producer/consumer needs of the Southwest U.S. Southwestern Regional Potato Variety Trial Reports
• Western Regional Potato Breeding and Cultivar Development Cooperators (California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington). The overall objective of this research group is to develop and evaluate improved potato cultivars to meet the production, marketing, and producer/consumer needs of the Western U.S. Western Regional Potato Breeding and Cultivar Development Cooperators
• Other cooperating research/extension programs – several cooperators throughout the United States and Canada provide breeding material and opportunities to screen our germplasm under various growing conditions and disease pressures not usually available in Colorado.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express appreciation to the following individuals, groups, and organizations for their efforts on behalf of the Colorado Potato Breeding and Selection Program.

Financial and In-kind Support from the following is gratefully acknowledged:

• • Colorado Potato Industry – CPAC Area II and III
  • Colorado State University – Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station & the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
  • USDA – National Institute of Food and Agriculture – Potato Research Award Number 2025-34141-45368
  • Potatoes USA – National Chip Processing Trial and National Fry Processing Trial
  • Stone’s Farm Supply – in-kind support