The Department of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology includes 35 full time faculty and 10 adjunct faculty. Each member directs independent research and/or outreach projects and plays significant roles in educating students and stakeholders. The majority of the faculty are located in department facilities in Ithaca and Geneva, but some work at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) facilities in Ithaca or Geneva, or at regional colleges and universities. You may also be interested in our:
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William E. Fry Location: Ithaca |
Biology of oomycetes and management of disease they cause (with emphasis on Phytophthora infestans). |
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Associate Chair Wayne F. Wilcox Location: Geneva |
Biology and integrated management of diseases of grapevine. |
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George S. Abawi Location: Geneva |
Research on vegetable pathology, biology and ecology of soilborne pathogens, integrated disease management, soil health, international agriculture. |
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Herb S. Aldwinckle Location: Geneva |
Resistance of apple to bacterial and fungal diseases, genomics and genetic engineering of apple, apple germplasm exploration and evaluation, and coffee genomics. |
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Steven V. Beer Location: Ithaca |
Molecular genetics and mechanisms of pathogenicity of Erwinia amylovora; biological control of fire blight and other diseases by bacteria. |
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Gary C. Bergstrom Location: Ithaca |
Biology, epidemiology, and integrated management of diseases of wheat, corn, soybean, forage legumes, and biofuel feedstock crops. |
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Thomas J. Burr Location: Geneva |
Diseases of fruit crops with emphasis on bacterial diseases, including biology and control of grape crown gall. |
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Juliet Carroll Location: Geneva |
Development and delivery of IPM programs for tree fruit, grape, and berry growers. |
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Samuel W. Cartinhour Location: Ithaca |
Analysis of regulatory mechanisms and gene expression networks in Pseudomonas syringae. |
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Alan Collmer Location: Ithaca |
Molecular phytobacteriology and microbial genomics. |
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Kerik Cox Location: Geneva |
Tree fruit and berry crop research and extension. Pathogen biology, ecology, and epidemiology of diseases of pome fruit, stone fruit and berry crops. |
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Margery L. Daughtrey Location: Long Island |
Improving disease management for ornamental crops, with the emphasis on developing new information to benefit the floriculture industry of New York. |
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Helene R. Dillard Location: Geneva |
Management and epidemiology of fungal diseases of vegetable crops, integrated sustainable disease management, international agriculture, extension systems |
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Marc Fuchs Associate Professor Location: Geneva |
Research and extension on virus diseases of fruit and vegetable crops, their biology and management. Virus-host and virus-vector interactions. |
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David M. Gadoury Location: Geneva |
Pathogen biology, ecology, and epidemiology. Powdery and downy mildews of grapevine, and scab of apples. |
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Stewart M. Gray Location: USDA/ARS Ithaca |
The biology of plant virus - insect vector interactions, virus diseases of potato and grain crops, virus disease management and epidemiology. |
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Kathie T. Hodge Location: Ithaca |
Systematics and ecology of pathogenic and symbiotic fungi, especially those that are pathogens of insects. Director of the Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium |
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George W. Hudler Professor Location: Ithaca |
Epidemiology and management of diseases of woody ornamentals and Christmas trees. |
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Sondra Lazarowitz Location: Ithaca |
Molecular mechanisms in virus-host interactions; molecular genetics of plant-virus movement and host resistance to virus infection; intra- and intercellular communications in plants. |
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Magdalen Lindeberg Location: Ithaca |
The identification of novel virulence factors in Pseudomonas syringae pathovars through analysis of their genome sequences. |
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Margaret McGrath Location: Long Island |
Diseases of vegetable crops, integrated pest management, fungicide resistance, epidemiology, powdery mildew, Phytophthora, air pollutants |
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Gregory B. Martin Location: Ithaca |
Molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis, plant immunity, and plant disease susceptibility. |
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Michael G. Milgroom Location: Ithaca |
Population biology and evolution of plant pathogens; the integration of population biology and plant disease epidemiology. |
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Eric B. Nelson Location: Ithaca |
Ecology and development of oomycetes in the spermosphere and rhizosphere with special emphasis on plant pathogenic Pythium species. Of special interest is understanding how microbial interactions and plant associations influence Pythium development and pathogenesis. |
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Rebecca J. Nelson Location: Ithaca |
International agriculture; host plant resistance; biology and management of diseases of cereal and root/tuber crops; integrated pest management |
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Teresa E. Pawlowska Location: Ithaca |
Biology and evolution of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (phylum Glomeromycota) |
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Keith L. Perry Location: Ithaca |
Cucumber mosaic virus and its vector transmission, pathogen diagnostics technologies, and potato viruses; Director of the NYS Foundation Potato Seed Program and the Uihlein Laboratory and Farm. |
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David A Rosenberger Location: Hudson Valley |
Applied research on diseases of tree fruits and postharvest fruit diseases. |
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Robert C. Seem Location: Geneva |
Epidemiology of fruit and vegetable diseases, disease forecasts, and applications of high-resolution weather forecasts in diseases management. |
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Christine D. Smart Location: Geneva |
Management of vegetable diseases. Molecular basis of plant-pathogen interactions. |
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Karen L. Snover-Clift Location: Ithaca |
Director - Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab |
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Gillian Turgeon Location: Ithaca |
Genetics and molecular biology of fungal pathogens. |
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Xiaohong Wang Location: Ithaca |
Molecular basis of plant-nematode interactions, host resistance to the potato cyst nematodes |
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Thomas A. Zitter Location: Ithaca |
Diseases of vegetables, integrated pest management, ecology and epidemiology of foliar pathogens, epidemiology and control of virus diseases |
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Gary E. Harman Basic and applied research towards biocontrol systems for use in commercial agriculture, with focus on fungi in the genus Trichoderma. Location: Department of Horticulture |
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Molecular genetics of temperature sensing and signaling
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Patricia Mowery
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Signal transduction pathways and gene regulatory mechanisms in the context of plant biotic interactions.
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Jocelyn K. C. Rose |
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Stephen C. Winans Molecular plant-bacteria interactions; host-microbe chemical signaling. Location: Ithaca |
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Lance Cadle-Davidson |
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Richard C. Staples Adjunct Faculty Physiology, metabolism, and cell biology of fungi.Experience focused on the rust fungi. Location: BTI |
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Candace W. Collmer |
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David M. Geiser Adjunct Faculty Molecular evolutionary genetics and systematics of fungi, especially /Fusarium/ and /Aspergillus. Location:Penn State |
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Ian Dry Adjunct Faculty Involved in developing molecular strategies to improve the genetic resistance of horticultural crops to fungal pathogens. |
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Maria Harrison Adjunct Faculty The arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and phosphate acquisition in plants. Location: BTI |
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Donna M. Gibson Adjunct Faculty Discovery of microbial metabolites and the roles they may play in pathogenicity, virulence, defense, or growth and development. Location: ARS |
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Dan F. Klessig Adjunct Faculty Plant immunity: molecular mechanisms of pathogen recognition and defense signal transduction. Location: BTI |
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Richard A. Humber Adjunct Faculty Biology, systematics/taxonomy, and biocontrol uses of fungal pathogens from arthropods and other invertebrates. Location: ARS |
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David Schneider Adjunct Faculty USDA-ARS Systems biology of P. syringae; comparative genomics of plant pathogens; mathematical and computational models of gene regulation networks in bacteria. Location:Ithaca |
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P.F. Palukaitis |