Program Management

Executive Leadership Team

Winthrop B. Phippen, Ph.D.
Project Director

Dr. Win Phippen currently serves as the Project Director for IPREFER a multi-institutional $10M National Institute for Food and Agriculture project focused on commercializing pennycress as a viable new cash cover crop for the Midwest Corn Belt. The IPREFER project (Integrated Pennycress Research Enabling Farm and Energy Resilience) focuses on optimizing agronomic protocols, breeding line development, assessment of environmental impacts, supply chain requirements, and community outreach.

Dr. Phippen is a professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics in the School of Agriculture at Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. He received his master’s degree from Cornell University in plant breeding and a doctorate degree from Purdue University. His research for the last 20 years has focused on agronomic and breeding improvement of alternative and new crops such as: milkweed, cuphea, hemp, and most recently pennycress.

310 Knoblauch Hall
University Circle
Macomb IL 61455
wb-phippen@wiu.edu

Rebekka Darner, Ph.D.
Co-PI

On sabbatical starting 5/16/23
Professor and Director, Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology
Illinois State University
Campus Box 4120
Normal IL 61790
rldarne@ilstu.edu

Matthew Hagaman

Center for Mathematics, Science & Technology
Illinois State University
Normal IL 61790
mthagam@ilstu.edu

Matt Luetje
CoverCress COO

CoverCress, Inc.
1249 N. Warson Rd.
St. Louis MO 63132

CoverCress Logo

Yesuf Mohammed, Ph.D.

Yesuf Mohammed, Ph.D.
Research Agronomist
USDA-ARS-NCSCRL
803 Iowa Ave.
Morris, MN 56267
yesuf.mohammed@usda.gov

William (Bill) Perry, Ph.D.
Co-PI

Professor of Aquatic Ecology
Campus Box 4120
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61790-4120
wlperry@ilstu.edu

John C. Sedbrook, Ph.D.
Co-PI

Professor of Genetics
School of Biological Sciences
Illinois State University
Campus Box 4120
Normal, IL 61790
jcsedbr@ilstu.edu

Julia Zhang, Ph.D.
Co-PI

Researcher, Anderson Lab
Department of Agronomy & Plant Genetics
University of Minnesota
411 Borlaug Hall
St. Paul, MN 55108-6026
zhan0521@umn.edu

Anne Kinzel, Program Manager