ATTAINING A 50% INCREASE IN THE YIELD OF MAJOR CROPS BY 2050 TO FEED THE EXPECTED POPULATION RANKS AMONG ONE OF OUR GREATEST SOCIETAL CHALLENGES. CURRENT GAINS IN YIELDS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO MEET THIS GOAL, AND LIMITED GENETIC DIVERSITY FOR MANY CROPS WILL LIKELY IMPEDE THE STEP CHANGES IN YIELD NEEDED. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT ONE PROMISING WAY TO BREAK THROUGH THIS DILEMMA IS TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE EFFICIENCY OF CROP LIGHT HARVESTING SYSTEMS. SOYBEAN, THE SECOND MOST WIDELY GROWN CROP IN THE U.S., IS WELL KNOWN TO BE SUB-OPTIMAL IN ITS CANOPY STRUCTURE WITH LEAVES AT THE TOP OF CANOPY INTERCEPTING 90% OF THE SUNLIGHT, LEAVING THEM OVERSATURATED. MEANWHILE, LEAVES IN THE MIDDLE AND LOWER PORTIONS OF THE CANOPY ARE SHADED AND LEFT WITH INADEQUATE PAR. DESPITE THIS, VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN REGARDING SHOOT ARCHITECTURE PROPERTIES CREATING AN OPTIMAL CANOPY STRUCTURE IN SOYBEAN, AND EXTENT OF QUANTITATIVE GENETIC VARIATION AVAILABLE FOR SHOOT ARCHITECTURE TRAITS AMONG DIVERSE AND ELITE GERMPLASM THAT COULD BE USED FOR BREEDING AND GENE DISCOVERY. WE PROPOSE TO HELP FILL THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP BY CONDUCTING A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED TO ELUCIDATE THE EFFECTS OF SHOOT ARCHITECTURE TRAITS ON PAR TRANSMITTANCE INTO THE CANOPY, WHICH IS KNOWN TO AFFECT OVERALL LIGHT CONVERSION EFFICIENCY AT THE CANOPY LEVEL. RESULTS FROM THESE STUDIES WILL PROVIDE FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ON WHAT SHOOT ARCHITECTURE TRAITS MAY BE IMPORTANT TARGETS FOR MAKING STEP CHANGES IN THE YIELD POTENTIAL OF SOYBEAN, AND THE EXTENT OF GENETIC VARIATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR THESE TRAITS.