Alexander Sandercock

Alexander M. Sandercock is an Assistant Scientist at UF/IFAS and the Genomics Coordinator for Breeding Insight. His research focuses on making genomic data more useful for breeding and conservation, particularly in polyploid species and species with limited genomic resources, where standard analytical methods often require adaptation. Through Breeding Insight, he collaborates with USDA-ARS breeding programs to develop genomic resources and analytical approaches for a diverse range of plant and animal species.

He earned his Ph.D. in Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology from Virginia Tech, where he studied genomic diversity, population history, and climate adaptation in American chestnut. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training with Breeding Insight at Cornell University, where he expanded his work into applied breeding genomics and scientific software development. His research at UF examines how genomic variation can inform breeding, germplasm management, and conservation. He also develops open-source software to make genomic analyses more reproducible and accessible, including BIGapp, BIGr, and castgen.