Mia serves as the Molecular Marker Lab Manager for the University of Tennessee Soybean Breeding and Genetics program. In this capacity, her responsibilities include collecting soybean tissue for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using real-time PCR melting curve analysis, conducting laboratory analysis of soybeans using near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy and gas chromatography, and performing DNA extractions on soybean leaf tissue samples in order to have pure DNA for genome mapping. With this Mia is also responsible for leading soybean crossing efforts in the field every summer. With these combined responsibilities, Mia gained an understanding of both the theoretical and applied components of plant breeding.

Mia received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 2014. After completing her B.S. degree, Mia returned to VMI to work for a year as a researcher before applying to graduate school. In the summer of 2015, she started a Master of Science program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her M.S. degree in Plant Sciences, with a concentration in Plant Breeding and Genetics. The title of her thesis was “Effect of a Mutant Danbaekkong Allele on Soybean Seed Yield, Protein, and Oil Concentration.” Mia completed her M.S. degree in the spring of 2017, and transitioned immediately into the Ph.D. program in Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Tennessee. Mia is working as a Research Associate while completing her dissertation.