Name: Kathy Reitsma   Title: Curator II – Vegetable Crops Organization: USDA-ARS-MWA-PIRU; Iowa State University Role/Crops/Team: Ms. Reitsma serves as the curator of vegetable crops for the NCRPIS.  The curator is responsible for the maintenance, preservation, acquisition, characterization / evaluation, documentation, and distribution of the National Plant Germplasm System’s (NPGS) vegetable collections maintained at the North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa.  These collections include Cichorium, Cucumis, Cucurbita pepo, Daucus, Ocimum, and Pastinaca.  Ms. Reitsma’s role is to serve as an information resource to researchers to facilitate the use of vegetable collections maintained at the NCRPIS.  Through this work, the curator is or will become the national authority on the above crops and their wild relatives. Kathy is actively involved with a Daucus observation 2010 planting project to be conducted in Ames. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Mark Widrlechner, Horticulturist, NCRPIS, Ames, along with David Spooner, Botanist, and Phil Simon, Research Leader, of the Vegetable Crops Research Unit, USDA, in Madison, Wisconsin.  The purpose of the project is to capture descriptor / characterization data, images, and DNA samples to help develop a much-needed taxonomic treatment for Daucus.  Plantings will include newly acquired accessions from Tunisia that have the unusual trait of yellow flowers.  Verification of their taxonomy will be given a high priority. Education:   B.L.S. Discipline: Horticulture, Science, Communication; Iowa State University, 1984. Employment History:   1985-Current: Curator – Vegetable Crops; North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station/Iowa State University. 1984-1985: Research Aide; Maize, Amaranth, and Vegetable Crops; North Central Regional Plant Introduction/Iowa State University.