Distinguished Lecture Series

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