The Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology's weekly Plant Pathology 250 seminar series is presented this week by:

Nathan Riley

Seminar Title: “Brown Rot of Citrus: Temporal Occurrence, Niche Preferences, and Genomics"

Biography: Nate is a 2nd year PhD student in Dr. James Adaskaveg's lab. His research is focused on the Phytophthora species responsible for brown rot of citrus, and the application of population genomics in order to study fungicide resistance and host specialization. Nate received his B.S. in Plant Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at UMD he worked with Dr. Cassandra Swett on the characterization of  the strawberry black root rot disease complex in the mid-Atlantic region.

&

Lindsey Pedroncelli

Seminar Title: “Evaluating the Effects of Drought Stress on Development of Macrophomina Charcol Rot on Strawberries”

Biography: Lindsey Pedroncelli is a 2nd year PhD student in Dr. Alex Putman's lab. She earned her B.S. in Microbiology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she also worked at the Cal Poly Strawberry Center. There, she gained an interest in plant pathology, and strawberry diseases in particular. She now works on the soilborne fungal disease Macrophomina Charcoal Rot, which has recently become a huge problem for the California strawberry industry, focusing on how drought stress affects disease development.