GxE Modeling and Selection with the lme4breeding and evola Packages

Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2025, 10:00–11:00 AM (Adelaide)v

Location: Hybrid – Zoom meeting & SET WT Waite Building 204 Meeting Room

Contact: biometryhub@adelaide.edu.au

Presenter: Eduardo Covarrubias-Pazaran, BASF / University of Wisconsin–Madison

GxE Modeling and Selection with the lme4breeding and evola Packages

Genetic evaluation and optimal mate allocation are central to artificial selection programs aiming to modify allele frequencies of beneficial alleles. This seminar will introduce two open-source tools designed to support these efforts. The lme4breeding package enhances computation speed and stability for multi-trait and multi-environment genetic evaluation models using the Eigen decomposition proposed by Lee and Van der Werf (2016). The evola package provides a robust and scalable evolutionary algorithm capable of fitting complex optimal mating tasks and other optimization problems.

These tools will be presented to raise awareness within the Biometrics and Quantitative Genetics community.

Please email the Biometry Hub (biometryhub@adelaide.edu.au) to obtain the Zoom link.