BIRTHPLACE

Chickasaw, Alabama

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2006-present Associate Professor & Coordinator of Agriculture, Ferrum College
• 2004-2006 Associate Professor of Agriculture & Chair of the Life Sciences Division, Ferrum College
• 2000-2004 Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Agriculture, Ferrum College
• 1996-2000 Assistant Professor of Biology, Saint Michael's College
• 1994-1996 Huxley Research Fellow, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Rice University
• 1992-1994 Postdoctoral Fellow, Photosynthesis Research Unit, University of Illinois
• 1980-1992 Agricultural Research Associate, Agronomy, University of Georgia

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Agronomy, University of Georgia, 1992
M.S. Agronomy, University of Georgia, 1988
B.S. Zoology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 1975

COURSES TAUGHT

• Plant Physiology and Biotechnology
• Soil Science and Management
• Principles of Field Crop Production
• Introductory Genetics
• Cell Biology
• Agricultural Issues
• Introductory Plant Science
• Plant Pest Management
• General Biology
• Population, Food, and the Environment
• Plant Nutrition and Disease
• Life Sciences Seminar

GRANTS AND AWARDS

• John B. Stephenson Fellowship, Appalachian College Association, Investigative training in cellular and molecular biology
• Ferrum College Faculty Development Grant, Using STELLA to model soil loss, plant growth, & farm management
• USDA, EQIP Educational Assistance Grant, Assisting area farmers with water quality improvements
• Gamma Sigma Delta - The Honor Society of Agriculture
• Sigma Xi, The Scientific Society of America

AREAS OF INQUIRY

Plant adaptation to environmental stress
Agronomic strategies to improve crop performance and persistence
Research Theme: Resource use efficiency in agricultural plants

REFEREED PAPERS

Byrd, GT & PA May II (2000) Physiological comparisons of switchgrass cultivars differing in transpiration efficiency. Crop Science 40: 1271-1277

Byrd, GT, FM Fisher & RL Sass (2000) Relationships between methane production and emission to lacunal methane concentrations in rice. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 14: 73-83

Brown, RH & GT Byrd (1997) Relationships between specific leaf weight and mineral concentration among genotypes. Field Crops Research 54: 19-28

Brown, RH & GT Byrd (1997) Transpiration efficiency, specific leaf weight and mineral concentration in peanut and pearl millet. Crop Science 37: 475-480

Sigren, L., GT Byrd, FM Fisher & RL Sass (1997) Comparison of soil acetate concentrations and methane production, transport, and emission in two rice cultivars. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 11: 1-14

Byrd, GT, T Loboda, CC Black & RH Brown (1995) Leaf cavity CO2 concentrations and CO2 exchange in onion, Allium cepa L. Photosynthesis Research 44: 253-260

Byrd, GT, DR Ort & WL Ogren (1995) The effects of chilling in the light on Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activation in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). Plant Physiology 107: 585-591

Brown RH & GT Byrd (1993) Estimation of bundle sheath cell conductance in C4 species and O2 insensitivity of photosynthesis. Plant Physiology 103: 1183-1188

Brown, RH, GT Byrd, JH Bouton, & CL Bassett (1993) Photosynthetic characteristics of segregates from hybrids between Flaveria brownii (C4 like) and Flaveria linearis (C3-C4). Plant Physiology 101: 825-831

Angelov, MN, J Sun, GT Byrd, RH Brown & CC Black (1993) Novel characteristics of cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz, a reputed C3-C4 intermediate photosynthetic species. Photosynthesis Research 38: 61-72

Byrd, GT, RH Brown, JH Bouton, CL Bassett & CC Black (1992) Degree of C4 photosynthesis in C4 and C3-C4 Flaveria species and their hybrids. I. CO2 assimilation and metabolism and activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and NADP-malic enzyme. Plant Physiology 100: 939-946

Brown, RH, GT Byrd & CC Black (1992) Degree of C4 photosynthesis in C4 and C3-C4 Flaveria species and their hybrids. II. Inhibition of apparent photosynthesis by a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase inhibitor. Plant Physiology 100: 947-950

Byrd, GT, RF Sage & RH Brown (1992) A comparison of dark respiration between C3 and C4 plants. Plant Physiology 100: 191-198

Brown, RH, GT Byrd & CC Black (1991) Assessing the degree of C4 photosynthesis in C3-C4 species using an inhibitor of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Plant Physiology 97: 985-989

Araus JL, RH Brown, GT Byrd & MD Serret (1991) Comparative effects of growth irradiance on photosynthesis and leaf anatomy of Flaveria brownii (C4-like), Flaveria linearis (C3-C4) and their F1 hybrid. Planta 83: 497-504

Bouton, JH, RH Brown, GT Byrd & TD Sharkey (1990) Inheritance of the reversal of O2 response of photosynthesis in a Flaveria linearis mutant. Plant Physiology 92: 186-190

Brown RH & GT Byrd (1990) Yield and botanical composition of alfalfa-bermudagrass mixtures. Agronomy Journal 82: 1074-1079

Byrd GT & RH Brown (1989) Environmental effects on photorespiration of C3-C4 species. Plant Physiology 90: 1022-1028

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Sharps ML & GT Byrd The effects of chilling on maize photosynthesis after interrupting the C4 cycle with an inhibitor of phosphoenolpuruvate carboxylase. Virginia Academy of Science Undergraduate Research Meeting. October 16, 2004. Richmond, Virginia

Byrd, GT, FM Fisher & RL Sass Relationships between methane production and emission to internal methane concentrations in rice. Sixth Symposium on Biogeochemistry of Wetlands, July 11-14, 1999, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Byrd, GT & PA May II Specific leaf mass, leaf soluble protein and leaf area/plant dry mass correlate with variation in water use efficiency in Panicum virgatum L., a C4 grass. Sixty Third Annual Meeting Northeast Section of American Society of Plant Physiologists. April 23-24, 1999, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire.

Byrd, GT, ST Lewis, LK Sigren, FM Fisher & RL Sass The effects of field drainage and cultivar choice on soil acetate concentrations and methane emissions from rice paddies. Fourth Symposium on Biogeochemistry of Wetlands, March 4-6, 1996, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Kallis, R, GT Byrd & WL Ogren Photosynthesis in the Arabidopsis rca mutant complemented with Rubisco activase cDNA altered at an ATP binding site. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, July 30 - August 3, 1994, Portland, Oregon.

Byrd, GT, DR Ort & WL Ogren Effect of chilling stress on light activation of rubisco by rubisco activase and tomato thylakoid membranes. Joint Annual Meeting of the American and Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, July 31- August 4, 1993, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Byrd, GT & RH Brown The degree of C4 photosynthesis in C4 and C3-C4 Flaveria species and their hybrids. Annual Meeting of the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, February 16 &17, 1992, Lexington, Kentucky

Byrd, GT, JH Bouton & RH Brown Comparative effects of growth irradiance on photosynthesis and leaf anatomy of Flaveria brownii (C4-like), Flaveria linearis (C3-C4) and their F1 hybrid. Annual Meeting of the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, February 11 & 12, 1991, Athens, Georgia

Brown, RH & GT Byrd CO2 exchange and concentrations in onion leaves. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, July 29 - August 2, 1990, Indianapolis, Indiana

Byrd GT & RH Brown Assessment of C4 photosynthesis in C3-C4 intermediate species using an inhibitor of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, July 29 - August 2, 1990, Indianapolis, Indiana

Bassett, CL, JH Bouton, RH Brown, GT Byrd & LL Smith Transfer of C4 photosynthetic traits by interspecific hybridization in Flaveria. Annual Meeting of the Genetics Society of America, January, 1989 Atlanta, Georgia

Byrd GT & RH Brown Effects of light, CO2, and O2 during growth on photorespiration in C3-C4 species. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, July 10-14, 1988, Reno, Nevada

THESIS AND DISSERTATION

• Byrd, GT (1992) Dark respiration in C3 and C4 species, University of Georgia, Ph.D. Dissertation
• Byrd, GT (1988) The effect of light, CO2, and O2 during growth on photorespiration in C3-C4 species, University of Georgia, M.S. Thesis

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Crop Science Society of America
• American Forage and Grasslands Council
• Virginia Forage and Grasslands Council
• Virginia Academy of Science

FARM EXPERIENCE

Dairy Farm, Plant Nursery, and Greenhouse