Annual Student-Invited Lecturer
Dr. Gerald J. Holmes-Fall 2023
Director, Cal Poly Strawberry Center, San Louis Obispo, California
Seminar Title: Cal Poly Strawberry Center: A New Model for Applied Research and Grower Outreach
Dr. Adam Steinbrenner-Spring 2023
Assistant Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, Department of Biology
Seminar Title: Within Spitting Distance: A Plant Immune Receptor for Caterpillar Oral Secretions
Dr. Peter Henry- Fall 2022
Research Plant Pathologist, USDA ARS Crop Improvement and Protection Research
Salinas, CA
Seminar Title: The Origins and Evolution of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.fagariae, Cause of Fusarium Wilt of Strawberry
Dr. Mary Hausbeck- Spring 2022
Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist, Michigan State University
Seminar Title: Grower-Driven Research Leads to Integrated Management Strategies for Phytophthora capsici for Michigan Vegetable Producers
Dr. Linda Kinkel-2019
Professor, University of Minnesota
Seminar Title: Diffuse interactions: Competition and Coevolution as Tools for Microbiome Management
Dr. Rusty Rodriguez, CEO, and Dr. Regina Redman, President – 2018
Symbiogenics, Seattle, WA
Seminar Title: Programming Plants for Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance and Improved Nutrition through Symbiogenics
Dr. Erica Goss – 2017
Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, University of Florida
Seminar Title: Population Genetics and Genomics of Plant Pathogen Emergence
Dr. Diane Ullman – 2016
Professor of Entomology, UC Davis
Seminar Title: Creating Sustainable Management Strategies for Thrips and Tospoviruses
Dr. Robert E. Davis – 2015
Research Leader/Supervisory Research Plant Pathologist, Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD
Seminar Title: Genome Fusion and the Origin of Phytoplasmas: Do Plant Pathogenic Spiroplasmas Fit this Model?
Dr. Marilyn Roossinck – 2014
Professor, Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, and Biology, The Pennsylvania State University; Sir Walter Murdoch Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics
Seminar Title: Viruses in Plant Adaptations to Extreme Environments
Dr. Jacqueline Fletcher – 2013
Regents Professor and Sarkeys Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University
Seminar Title: Enhancing response capabilities for agricultural biosecurity: The emerging discipline of plant pathogen forensics
Dr. Eric Davis – 2012
Williams Neals Reynolds Distinguished Professor & Director of Graduate Programs, Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Seminar Title: Molecular Plant-Nematode Interactions
Dr. Tom Volk – 2010
Professor of Biology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Seminar Title: Plant Pathology vs. Medical Mycology: Battle of the Fungi
Dr. Claude Fauquet – 2009 (Spring 2010)
Director, International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology and Member and Principal Investigator, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
Seminar Title: Intimate relationships between the host and geminiviruses and their satellites
Dr. Barbara Valent – 2008
Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University
Seminar Title: Roles for Plasmodesmata and ‘Blast Interfacial Complexes’ during Biotrophic Invasion of Rice Cells by the Blast Fungus
Dr. Rebecca Nelson – 2007
Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University.
Seminar Title: Quantitative Resistance to Diseases of Rice and Maize
Dr. Robert Gilbertson – 2006
Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis.
Seminar Title: Development and application of a geminiviral green fluorescent reporter system to study the pathogen-host interaction
Dr. Jerald Pataky – 2004
Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Seminar Title: Current Concerns About Simply-Inherited Resistances in Sweet Corn
Dr. Chris Upper – 2003
Professor Emeritus, Department of Plant Pathology and USDA-ARS Plant Disease Resistance Research Unit, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Seminar Title: An Odyssey with Pseudomonas Syringae through Bean Fields and Plant Pathology
Dr. Mary Berbee – 2002
Professor, University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Dr. Berbee works on the molecular phylogenetics of fungi and studies the evolution of fungal life history strategies.
Seminar Title: Molecular Phylogenetics and Breeding Systems in the Ascomycete Fungi
Dr. Charles Mims – 2001
Professor and Graduate Coordinator at the University of Georgia in Athens. Dr. Mims works on a wide range of plant pathogenic fungi and their interactions with susceptible and resistant hosts using light and electron microscopy studies.
Seminar Titles:
- Biology and ultrastructure of plant pathogenic fungi
- Fungi: Friends and foes – A non-laboratory mycology co