Maria Monteros joined the Forage Improvement Division in the Spring of 2007. Maria received her PhD from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Work in Monteros' lab focuses on forage legume improvement, particularly alfalfa, white clover and red clover. Her goal is to identify QTL and candidate genes associated with desirable traits in these legume species, including biotic (disease resistance) and abiotic stress tolerance (drought and aluminum), enhanced forage quality, yield and persistence. The lab is developing and utilizing molecular markers (SSRs and SNPs) to target these desired traits utilizing some of the resources available from the model legume Medicago truncatula. Identification of molecular markers associated with traits of interest can be used to develop adapted high-yielding forage legume cultivars to integrate beneficial alleles for these traits using a combination of classical and molecular breeding technologies (marker-assisted selection).