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www.dblogr.com/ or derekmichaelwright.github.io/dblogr

Welcome to the personal website for Derek Michael Wright

About Me

Derek Michael Wright

I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and graduated with a BSc in Biology from the University of Regina in 2012, followed by a MSc in Agrobiotechnology from Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (University of Giessen, Germany) in 2015. I now work in the Plant Sciences department at the University of Saskatchewan and have been involved in three research projects (AGILE, EVOLVES & P2IRC) with lentil (Lens culinaris).




Publications

Scientific publications I have been involved in while working/studying at University of Regina, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (University of Giessen) & the University of Saskatchewan.

All Publications

LDP Phenology

Understanding photothermal interactions can help expand production range and increase genetic diversity of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). Plants, People, Planet. (2021) 3(2): 171-181. doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10158

Derek M. Wright, Sandesh Neupane, Taryn Heidecker, Teketel A. Haile, Crystal Chan, Clarice J. Coyne, Rebecca J. McGee, Sripada Udupa, Fatima Henkrar, Eleonora Barilli, Diego Rubiales, Tania Gioia, Giuseppina Logozzo, Stefania Marzario, Reena Mehra, Ashutosh Sarker, Rajeev Dhakal, Babul Anwar, Debashish Sarker, Albert Vandenberg & Kirstin E. Bett.

LDP Nepal Phenology

Strategic Identification of New Genetic Diversity to Expand Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) Production (Using Nepal as an Example). Agronomy. (2021) 11(10): 1933. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11101933

Sandesh Neupane, Rajeev Dhakal, Derek M. Wright, Deny K. Shrestha, Bishnu Dhakal & Kirstin E. Bett .

LDP GWAS Phenology

Focusing the GWAS Lens on days to flower using latent variable phenotypes derived from global multi-environment trials. The Plant Genome. (2022) 16(1): e20269. doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20269

Sandesh Neupane, Derek M. Wright, Raul O. Martinez, Jakob Butler, Jim L. Weller, Kirstin E. Bett.

LDP GWAS UAV

Disecting lentil crop growth across multi-environment trials using unoccupied aerial vehicles and genome-wide association studies. unpublished.

Derek M Wright, Sandesh Neupane, Tania Gioia, Steve Shirtlife & Kirstin E Bett.

LDP GWAS Protein

[Evaluating the breeding potential of cultivated lentils for protein and amino acid concentration and quality]

Jiayi Hang, Derek M. Wright, Kirstin E. Bett & James D. House

A follow up to:

Prediction of protein and amino acid contents in whole and ground lentils using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy. LWT. (2022) 165: 113669. doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113669

Jiayi Hang, Da Shi, Jason Neufeld, Kirstin E. Bett & James D. House

Genomic Selection in Lentil

Genomic selection for lentil breeding: Empirical evidence. The Plant Genome. (2020) 13(e20002): 1-15. doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20002

Teketel A. Haile, Taryn Heidecker, Derek M. Wright, Sandesh Neupane, Larissa Ramsay, Albert Vandenberg & Kirstin E. Bett.

Lentil Flavones

Mass Spectrometry-Based Untargeted Metabolomics Reveals the Importance of Glycosylated Flavones in Patterned Lentil Seed Coats. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. (2023) 71(7): 3541–3549. doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.2c07844

Fatma M. Elessawy, Derek M. Wright, Albert Vandenberg, Anas El-Aneed & Randy W. Purves.

Algae Grazers

Grazing preferences of three species of amoebae on cyanobacteria and green algae. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. (2024) e13018: 1-14. doi.org/10.1111/jeu.13018

Harold G. Weger, April K. Polasek, Derek M. Wright, Arun Damodaran, John Stavrinides

NEU in Canola

Influence of heterozygosity on nitrogen use efficiency in hybrid and purebred lines of Brassica napus (L.). University of Giessen. (2015) MSc. Thesis.

Derek M. Wright.


Academic

Tutorials and Vignettes based on some of my academic work.

gwaspr

An package for plotting GWAS results from the GAPIT package

devtools::install_github("derekmichaelwright/gwaspr")


Tutorials

Tutorials in on how to perform various statistical and genetic analyses.

GWAS Tutorial

GWAS Tutorial with gwaspr

An R tutorial on running genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with GAPIT and gwaspr

QTL Tutorial

QTL Tutorial with qtl2

A tutorial on how to run QTL analyses in R with qtl2

PCA Tutorial

PCA Tutorial

A tutorial on how to run principal component analyses and heirarchical clustering in R

Augmented Designs

Augmented Field Trial Designs

An R tutorial on augmented field trial designs and how to adjust their values

Note: Under Construction

Dual Y-axis

Dual Y-axis

An R tutorial on how to create a plots with dual y-axes

Thermal Time

Calculating Thermal Time/Growing Degree Days

An R tutorial on how to calculate thermal time and incorporate environmental data into a phenotype

Environmental Data

Environmental Data Tutorial

An R tutorial on how to manipulate and plot environmental data

R Tutorial

R Tutorial

An introduction to R


Vignettes

Vignettes related to my work academic work and general science communication.

Lentil Diversity Panel

Lentil Diversity Panel

A population representing global genetic diversity in cultivated lentil varieties

Correlation Coefficients and Predictive Models

Correlation Coefficients and Predictive Models

A vignette on how to properly use correlation coefficients when evaluating predictive models

Data Visualizations

Data Visualization

A vignette illustrating different ways to visualize data

Misleading Graphs

Misleading Graphs

A vignette illustrating how to mislead with statistics and graphs



agData

agData

An Package Containing Agricultural Data Sets

devtools::install_github("derekmichaelwright/agData")


FAOSTAT

Maps of Global Crop Production

Maps of Global Crop Production

Maps of crop production using FAO data

Global Farmland

Global Agricultural Land Use

Graphs of global agricultural land use with FAO data

Global Food Security

Global Food Security

Graphs related to global food security using FAO data

Lentil

Lentil Production

Graphs of lentil production using FAO data

Wheat

Wheat Production

Graphs of wheat production using FAO data

Honeybee

Honeybee Producion

Graphs of honeybee production using FAO data


STATCAN

Saskatchewan Crop Production

Saskatchewan Crop Production

Graphs of crop production in Saskatchewan using STATCAN data

Lentil Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan Lentil Production and Exports

Graphs of lentil production and exports using SKAG data

Wheat Canada

Wheat Production in Canada

Graphs of wheat production using STATCAN data

Honeybee Canada

Canadian Honeybee Production

Graphs of honeybee production in Canada using STATCAN data

Canadian Farmland

Canadian Farmland

Graphs about Canadian farmland using STATCAN data

Canadian Farmers

Canadian Farm Operators

Graphs on Canadian farm operator demographics using STATCAN data

Maps of Canadian Crop Production

Maps of Canadian Crop Production

Maps of crop production in Canada using STATCAN data


USDA, ISAAA, etc.

Maize USA

USA Maize Production

Graphs of maize production in the USA using USDA data

Sugarbeet USA

Sugarbeet Production in USA

Graphs of sugarbeet production using USDA data

GE Crops

Genetically Engineered Crop Production

Graphs of GE crop production using ISAAA data

GE Crops USA

Genetically Engineered Crop Production in USA

Graphs of GE crop production using USDA data



Blog

Random data visualizations and general blog posts.


Economics

Global Energy Use and Poverty

Global Energy Use and Poverty

Graphs of global energy use, CO2 emissions, GDP, and poverty using data from Our World in Data

Canada Fossil Fuels

Canadian Fossil Fuel Production and Import

Graphs of crude oil, natural gas, and coal production, import and export using STATCAN data

Canada Housing

Housing In Canada

Graphs of housing data in Canada using STATCAN data

Canada Public Private

Public vs Private Sector Employment in Canada

Graphs of public vs private sector employment in Canada using STATCAN data

Canada Trade

Canadian Trade - Imports and Exports

Graphs of trade surplus/deficits with other countries using STATCAN data

gapminder

gapminder

Graphs with gapminder data


Demographics

Canada Population

Population Demographics In Canada

Graphs of population demographics in Canada using STATCAN data

Canada Migration

Migration Demographics In Canada

Graphs of migration demographics in Canada using STATCAN data

2020 Saskatchewan Election

2020 Saskatchewan Election Results

Graphs of the 2020 Saskatchewan Provincial Election Results

USA Population

USA Population Demographics

Graphs of population demographics in USA using Census Bureau data

Canada Overdoses

Overdose Deaths In Canada

Graphs of yearly overdose deaths in Canada using GOV CA, SK & BC data

USA Overdoses

Overdose Deaths In The USA

Graphs of weekly overdose deaths in the USA using CDC data

Saskatchewan Suicides

Suicides In Saskatchewan

Graphs of yearly suicides in Saskatchewan using SK GOV data

Canada Deaths

Deaths In Canada

Graphs of weekly deaths in Canada using STATCAN data

USA Deaths

Deaths In The United States

Graphs of weekly deaths in the USA using CDC & USCB data

Canada Academia

Politics in Canadian Academia

Graphs of political views among academics in Canada


Other Stuff, etc.

cypher

cypher: an package for coding and decoding secret messages

devtools::install_github("derekmichaelwright/cypher")

Hex Stickers

Hex Stickers

Creation of hex stickers with R

Street Maps

Street Maps

Create street map art with R and road network files

starBliss

starBliss

Graphs of star constellations using the starBliss R package

Blank Pages

Blank Pages

Blank pages for notebook creation



Memorable Quotes

“We shall go into the pyre—we shall burn. But we shall not retreat from our convictions.”

“All thoughts of rest must be forsaken. Sustained efforts are necessary to complete the revolution in agriculture”

-Nikolai Vavilov

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

-Carl Sagan

“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”

-Christopher Hitchens

“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”

-Richard Feynman

“Think For Yourself, Question Authority”

-Timothy Leary

“Whoever controls the people’s fears becomes master of their souls.”

-Niccolò Machiavelli

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”

-George Orwell

“It’s amazing how much panic one honest man can spread among a multitude of hypocrites.”

-Thomas Sowell

“In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual.”

-Galileo Galilei

“Comedy is surprises, so if you’re inteding to make somebody laugh and they don’t laugh, that’s funny.”

-Norm MacDonald

“Karl Marx was right, socialism works, it is just that he had the wrong species”

-Edward O. Wilson

“Growing up, I was free in my childhood years. And now they tell me I can wash away my tears. These tears explain the way, it’s the way that I feel, because the freedom they give me ain’t real.

I want freedom, the kind that they promised me, just for livin’ in this country. I want the freedom, the kind that makes me feel strong, but, let me tell you, something is wrong.”

-Grand Funk Railroad

“Following our will and wind, we may just go where no one’s been. We’ll ride the spiral till the end and may just go where no one’s been.”

-Tool

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon… if I can.

I seek opportunity… not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the state of calm Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout.

I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world bodly and say, “This I have done.”

-Roy R. Wright



© Derek Michael Wright