the Green Fuse group
Legume genetics research @ UTas
Our team

Jim Weller
Group Leader
Jim attempts to provide research leadership and adequate supervision, keep his less realistic ideas in check, and occasionally write a paper or two.
Jak Butler
Postdoctoral Researcher
Jak recently joined our Pulse Phenology project and provides us with badly-needed genomic and bioinformatics expertise.
Chantelle Beagley
Honours Student
Chantelle is exploring the genetics of common bean development but has wider interests in flowering time mechanisms and their evolution
Kelsey Picard
Research Assistant
Kelsey is helping extend our toolkit of molecular techniques, while also trying to drag our communications into the 21st century.
Valerie Hecht
Senior Postdoctoral Researcher
Valerie works on legume FTs, is our go-to person for lab techniques, makes sure the labs are running properly, and keeps the sales reps honest.
Bea Contreras
PhD Student
Bea has been looking at the roles of various photoperiod response genes in pea and Medicago.

Jackie Vander Schoor
Senior Research Assistant
Jackie's extreme multi-tasking across glasshouse, lab and admin keeps the group functioning!
Yang Dai
MSc student
Yang is interested in agriculture and genetics and is getting to know lentils (and Tasmania...)
Raul Ortega
Postdoctoral Researcher
Raul has just (re-) joined the group to co-ordinate our molecular genetic work on pulse phenology in lab and glasshouse.

Andy Rubenach
PhD Student
Andy's working on the legume circadian clock, bringing a deep knowledge of the literature and master technical troubleshooting abilities…
Laura James
Research Assistant
Laura is wrestling with the genetics of flowering time in pulses and keeps our feet on the ground with her pulse breeding and field trial experience.
Memoona Arshad
MAppSci student
Memoona is investigating flowering time genes in pea and Medicago