Steven Cannon serves as a Research Geneticist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The ARS research group that he leads maintains plant genetic databases for soybean (soybase.org) and other legume species (legumeinfo.org). He has been involved in many genome sequencing and annotation projects, from the first assemblies of Medicago truncatula and soybean, through common bean, peanut and its wild relatives, and other diverse species such as redbud (Cercis), partridge pea (Chamaecrista), and potato bean (Apios). His research interests include translation of information about the genetic basis of traits between species, and tracing the origins of the legume family and biological innovation within the family such as symbiotic nitrogen fixation.