University of Alberta student Anubhav Tripathi is studying whether genetic material from Brassica oleracea influences hybrid vigour and seed yield.

When Anubhav Tripathi began studying drought tolerance in maize in Nepal, his question was practical: which plants could keep performing when water became scarce?

Today, as a master’s student at the University of Alberta, he is investigating whether genetic material from Brassica oleracea — the species that includes cabbage and broccoli — influences hybrid performance, with a particular focus on seed yield and heterosis.

The crop and technology have changed, but the idea connecting his work has not: farmers need more resilient and productive crops, and genetic diversity may hold some of the answers.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture with distinction from Tribhuvan University in Nepal, where his undergraduate research focused on drought tolerance in maize.

He later worked at Nepal’s National Plant Breeding and Genetics Research Center, phenotyping wheat and maintaining crossing blocks. At the U of A, he has continued that hands-on breeding work while expanding into data analysis and quantitative genomics.

At the heart of his current work is heterosis, or hybrid vigour: genetically distinct parents can sometimes produce offspring that outperform them.

By identifying genetic combinations associated with that advantage, breeders may be able to develop stronger hybrids more deliberately.

His supervisor, University of Alberta professor Habibur Rahman, calls his pre-graduate publication record “outstanding”. He was also impressed when Anubhav analyzed an existing research dataset and quickly produced a manuscript draft after arriving in Edmonton.

Anubhav has demonstrated an ability to communicate that science, too. In 2026, he was a finalist in the University of Alberta’s Three Minute Thesis competition. It challenges graduate students to explain their research, and why it matters, to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes, using only one slide.

Anubhav is the fifth in our seven Future Builders of Plant Breeding. Read about the others here: Yue Yu, Shruti Kashyap, Ben Erickson and Luke Dojack!