b"PLANT BREEDERPlaying with Canola GenesMarcus Samuel has modified canola to help make the Canadian crop weather the future.MARCUS SAMUEL STARTED out working on tobacco, but as he began his post-doctoral work he found his attention shifting to canolaa staple Canadian crop. He spent his post-doctoral work at the University of Toronto (U of T) working on self-compatibility in canola species in order to understand the molecular mechanisms of the oilseed.As his studies wrapped, Samuel found himself looking for jobs working in agriculture academia as a molecular plant breeder. But it was one of his professors that pushed him to focus on canola.One of the profs told me, Marcus do you know this green seed in canola is a big problem in industry? I had all the experience working with canola, I can modify canola, I can manipulate the genes in canola. So, I was like why not I embark on this, he explains in a phone interview. That was a moment where I thought maybe I need to do something that I can give back to the community, to the farmers.Samuel packed his bags and moved to Calgary, Alta. where he took a job as a professor at the University of Calgary (U of C). In the 15 years since he arrived in Cow Town he has also become the director of the greenhouse at the university and is the vice-president of Canadian Society of Plant Biologists. Marcus is cutting edge and he's highly innovative. He's a skilled researcher,Marcus Samuel, a professor at the University of Calgary, stands in one of the universitys greenhouses. Julian Northey, CEO of Frontier Agri- PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY32seed.ab.ca"