Research output per year
Research output per year
Docent (Adjunct Professor)
PL 27 (Latokartanonkaari 5)
00014
Finland
Latokartanonkaari 5-7, Room C220
00790 Helsinki
Finland
Research activity per year
Visiting Scientist 06.08.2005 – 31.01.2007
Professor of Crop Improvement 01.08.2004 – 01.08.2005
Reader 04.01.2001 – 31.07.2004
Senior Research Fellow 01.09.1998 – 01.01.2001
Research Fellow 01.07.1995 – 01.09.1998
Research Fellow 01.01.1992 –30.06.1995
Research Fellow 01.05.1988 – 31.12.1991
Research Associate 05.12.1985 – 30.04.1988
PhD, 08.06.1985
Project: Fertilisation in Vicia faba L. in relation to breeding objectives
Scholarships: Imperial Oil (Canada) Graduate Research Fellowship; St. John’s College (Cambridge) Benefactor’s Studentship
MSc (Biology), 25.05.1981
Scholarship: Centennial Science Scholarship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
BSc (First Class Honours in Biology), 1978; University Medal in Science 1978
My research focuses on faba bean (Vicia faba) but also touches on legume crops. I have projects on genomics, genetics and breeding, sustainability and crop quality for food and feed.
Europe suffers from a huge deficit in plant protein: 70% of its supplementary plant protein needs are imported, mostly soya bean from North and South America, and mostly to feed pigs and chickens. At the same time, its rotations are too narrowly based on the high-yielding small-grain cereals, particularly wheat and barley, so soil-borne diseases may become endemic. Furthermore, European agriculture relies heavily on inputs of nitrogen from fertilizer and, to a lesser extent, manure, with impacts on greenhouse gas releases and nitrate leaching. Many of these difficulties, and others, can be at least partially resolved by increased usage of grain legumes that fix their own nitrogen, provide high-protein seeds for food and feed use, leave at least some nitrogen-rich residue for following crops, and break the cycles of soil-borne diseases of cereals while promoting the growth of beneficial soil micro-organisms.
Yields of legumes lag behind those of the cereals, as do their stress resistances, largely due to a relative lack of breeding effort for the past 2-3 decades. In order for European legume yields and yield stability to improve, and to withstand the increased stresses expected from climate change, new sources of stress resistance, yield and quality need urgently to be identified for the major grain legume crops. The new traits then need to be transferred into agronomically viable cultivars by developing rapid, omics-supported methods. We had a successful project using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy, in collaboration with ICARDA, to identify potential sources of drought tolerance in faba bean. Subsequent work has identified sources of tolerance to rootzone acidity.
Further application of these sources of stress resistance will be accelerated by the development of tools for rapid breeding based on knowledge of the genome of the crop. We have had a project from the Academy of Finland, 'Papugeno', aimed at sequencing the gene space of faba bean and this has led to partnership in a consortium that is sequencing the whole genome and assembling it (2020). The current ERANET SusCrop project 'ProFaba' aims to link genotyping with the phenotyping for many of these stress- and productivity-related responses, thus moving towards the provision of genomic tools for breeding.
Our other ERANET SusCrop project, LegumeGap, focuses on the adaptation of faba bean and soybean to different parts of Europe and how the reliability of yield can be improved. H2020 project Legumes Translated develops communication channels among farmers, processors and consumers in order to improve the market situation for legume crops.
Crop quality is also important, and I enjoy working with colleagues in the feed and food sciences, here and abroad, on aspects of grain legume quality. Our cooperation has led to advances in processing of grain legume flours and protein isolates that can enable the production of new foods.
My teaching in the department relates to these research themes and I contribute to several courses on crop science and crop quality. In addition, I run several of the department's service courses for international and master's-level students, including (together with colleagues) the course on scientific writing.
Plant Breeding, PhD, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 8 Jun 1985
Biology, MSc, University of Ottawa
Award Date: 28 May 1981
Biology, BSc (First Class Honours), Carleton Univ, Carleton University, Dept Biol
Award Date: 29 Jun 1978
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Stoddard, F., Schulman, A. & Belachew, K.
15/04/2019 → 14/04/2022
Project: Research project
01/04/2019 → 31/03/2022
Project: Research project
Lindström, K., Stoddard, F., Sontag-Strohm, T. & Schauman, C.
01/11/2018 → 31/10/2021
Project: Research project
Simojoki, A., Stoddard, F., Penttinen, P., Lindström, K. & Tuovinen, A.
01/09/2017 → 31/08/2020
Project: Research project
Schulman, A., Stoddard, F., Bubolz, J., Chang, W., Katina, K., Lampi, A., Narvanto, A. M., Piironen, V. & Tenkanen, M.
01/04/2016 → 30/11/2022
Project: Foundations (Private Foundations, Non-Profit Foundations, Charitable Trusts)
Stoddard, Fred (Recipient), 26 Apr 2021
Prize: Prizes and awards
Fred Stoddard (Chair)
Activity: Membership types › Membership or other role in national/international committee, council, board
Fred Stoddard (Visiting researcher)
Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Academic visit to other institution
Fred Stoddard (Board member)
Activity: Membership types › Membership or other role in national/international committee, council, board
Fred Stoddard (Chair)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organisation and participation in conferences, workshops, courses, seminars
Fred Stoddard (Visiting researcher)
Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Academic visit to other institution
13/09/2019
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
31/01/2018
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
27/07/2021
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media