John Cushman

John C. Cushman is a Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada and Director of the Biochemistry Graduate Program in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology within the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources ad the Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station. Professor Cushman's laboratory has used engineered tissue succulence and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) to improve the water-use efficiency, salinity, and water-deficit stress tolerance in model plant species with the long-term goal of moving these water-conserving adaptations into food, feed, and (bio)fuel crops enabling production on marginal or abandoned agricultural lands. A major focus of his laboratory is to investigate the productivity and irrigation response of highly productive CAM crops such as cactus pear (Opuntia spp.) to serve as sources of human food, animal feed, and as a biofuel feedstock for semi-arid and arid regions of the world.