For the last 29 years, Dr. Jones has lead the worldwide breeding effort for Monsanto Vegetable Seeds, In this role, he has developed numerous highly successful onion cultivars, implemented molecular breeding an computer software tools in their collective breeding effort, and mentored numerous junior plant breeders. Some of his accomplishments for cultivar development include the first sterile short-day onion hybrid cultivars developed at Monsanto, the first brown, red, and white short-day hybrid cultivars developed at Monsanto, and the first intermediate-day yellow hybrid cultivars developed at Monsanto. As a result of his breeding efforts, Monsanto is one of the leading seed companies for onion cultivars worldwide. His implementation of tools to improve the breeding effort has resulted in improving breeding efficiency, faster and prolific cultivar development, and improved trait development, One of his greatest contributions has been his mentoring of junior plant breeders. Throughout the worldwide operations of Monsanto, numerous plant breeders have benefitted from the mentoring of Dr. Jones.
He has served as an affiliate and graduate faculty member, and on several graduate student advisory committees in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University since 2011. He has served a similar role in the Department of Horticulture at Texas A&M University since 1994. As a commercial plant breeder, he appreciates the efforts of public plant breeding programs and the role that they play in trait improvement, germplasm development, and cultivar development, and the benefits that these programs offer to commercial breeding programs. He has served as an advisory committee member to SCRI-funded SREP onion research project. He serves on the Root and Bulb Vegetable Crop Germplasm Committee which advises the National Plant Germplasm System, SRS, USDA, on their germplasm collections of Alliums, Daucus and Beta.
