Susana R. Milla-Lewis

Biography

Dr. Susana Milla-Lewis is a Professor in the Crop and Soil Sciences Department at NC State University. She leads the Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics Program, which she started from scratch in 2009. The overall goal of the program is to improve the sustainability of the turfgrass industry in North Carolina by developing cultivars that better tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses and require reduced inputs while still maintaining good aesthetic quality. The program has recently released Lobo™, a low input zoysiagrass developed in collaboration with the NC Department of Transportation.

Susana is originally from Lima, Peru were where she obtained a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. In 1996, she immigrated to the U.S. to attend graduate school at NC State obtaining M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Plant Breeding and Genetics.  She has served as chair or co-chair on 18 graduate student committees, published 66 refereed journal articles and 133 abstracts, and secured over $20.5 million in funding as PI and Co-PI.