Seminars

Spring 2025 Seminars

Seminars are held Tuesdays at 3:30pm in room 584 Russell Labs (Plant Pathology Library), unless otherwise noted.

* Indicates seminar will be held on Thursday.

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Seminar contact:  Prof. Paul Koch

Prior Seminars

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+Fall 2024
Date Presenter Title Notes
09/10 Claudia Solis Lemus Novel statistical tools to infer biological networks  
09/17 Maria Oros How the Data Science Institute Can Support Your Research?  
09/24 Kheeman Kwon Discovery of Candidate Genes Controlling Soybean Cyst Nematode Virulence on Resistant Soybeans  
10/01 Sanjay Antony-Babu The Sinister Side of Phytomicrobiomes: Beyond Pathobiomes and Microbial Dysbiosis  
10/08 Natalia Pineros Guerrero Using Population Biology of Stemphylium vesicarium to Underpin Durable Management of Stemphylium Leaf Blight of Onion in New York  
10/15 Open    
10/22 Alexandra Weisberg Mobile genetic element flexibility contributes to the robustness of plant-microbe interactions  
10/29 Rosa Aghdam Biological networks and models  
11/05 Smita Shrestha Ecology and Characterization of Pectinolytinc Bacterial Pathogens of Potato  
11/12 Courtney C Meeks Assessing disease management tools for cold-climate grape growers (Proposal Seminar)  
11/19 Open    
11/26 No seminar    
12/03 Zoltan Banyai Suppressing Dollar Spot Through Adjustment of Leaf Surface pH  
+Spring 2024
Date Presenter Title Notes
1/23 Dr. Sanjay Antony-Babu The Sinister Side of Phytomicrobiomes: Beyond Pathobiomes and Microbial Dysbioisis (Texas A&M University) CANCELLED  
01/30 Dr. Damon Smith Practical, Research-based Plant Disease Advisories for the 21st Century  
02/06 Dr. Erin Silva Addressing “Wicked Problems” – finding transdisciplinary solutions to food systems crises  
02/13 Dr. Andrew Bent Attaching Mechanisms to Loci: Soybean Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode  
02/20 Dr. Benjamin Rush Something’s funny: humor for better communication, teamwork, & resiliency (UW WID and Radiology)  
02/27 Dr. Charlie Mo Anti-phage defense systems in bacteria (UW Bacteriology)  
02/29 (Thu.) 1-2pm Megan Dixon How Xanthomonas foliar disease influences the fate of Salmonella enterica (Exit Seminar)  
03/05 Dr Amanda Gevens Advancing early blight management in Wisconsin potatoes  
03/12 Dr. Sean Schoville Spatiotemporal genomic analyses and insights into pest evolution (UW Entomology)  
03/19 Dr. Paul Ahlquist Structural Biology Insights into RNA Virus Replication and Control  
03/26   SPRING BREAK – No seminar  
04/02 Peihan Shu Investigating molecular mechanisms of mycovirus’ hypovirulence on fungi and potential disease control (Proposal seminar)  
04/09 Dr. Jessica Hite Fighting antimicrobial resistance by integrating microbial ecology and evolution (UW Pathobiological Science)  
04/16 Dr Ian Small Phenotyping plant diseases and advances in precision crop protection (University of Florida)  
04/18 (Thu.) Maxwell Chibuogwu Integrated management and understanding of Gibberella diseases and deoxynivalenol accumulation produced by Fusarium graminearum in silage corn, Zea mays. (Exit Seminar)  
04/23 Daowen Huo Targeting oxalic acid production in Clarireedia Jacksonii for dollar spot control in amenity turfgrass (Exit Seminar)  
04/30 Jeysika Zayas-Rivera Identification and characterization of novel sources of SCN resistance and the development of tools for soybean research (Exit seminar)  
05/02 (Thu.) Afona Irabor Enhancing Potato Soil Health in the Central Sands of Wisconsin (Exit seminar)  
05/06 ( Mon.) 1-2pm Casey Trickle Exploring the Spatiotemporal Dynamics and Phenology of the Cranberry False Blossom Phytoplasma and its Leafhopper Vector, Limotettix vaccinii (Exit seminar)  

Seminar contact:  Prof. Aurelie Rakotondrafara

+Fall 2023
Date Presenter Title
9/12/2023 Matthew Pereyra Evaluating Forecasting Methods for Timing of Potato Pesticide Applications (Proposal seminar)
9/19/2023 Dr. Dennis Halterman Building a Robust Defense: Unearthing the Mechanisms of Potato Disease Resistance
9/21/2023
(Thur.)		 Shane Hansen Protecting the Potato Tuber from Start to Finish: Optimizing the Use of Liquid Seed Treatments and Exploring the Use of UV-Light in Storage (Exit seminar)
9/26/2022 Dr Bill Underwood Paralleling fundamental and applied research to improve sunflower resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
10/3/2023 Dr Jo Handelsman A lifetime of Bacillus cereus: From field pathology to THOR, a model microbial community
10/10/2023 Dr Phil Brannen Pathology challenges associated with growing grapes in the deep South
10/18/2023 Dr Sameer Deshpande Sparse regression and graphical modeling with the spike-and-slab LASSO
10/24/2023 Dr. Caitilyn Allen The Secret Lives of Plant Pathogenic Ralstonia
10/31/2023 Dr Jessica Hite Fighting antimicrobial resistance by integrating microbial ecology and evolution
11/7/2023 Elizabeth Lane Soil microbes ability to decompose different organic matter, enzyme activity and nitrate leaching in sandy soils in potato fields (Exit seminar)
11/14/2023 Kelly Debbink Integrated Disease Management in Organic Field Crops (Exit seminar)
11/22/2023 no seminar  
11/28/2023 Dr Mehdi Kabbage Progress in understanding the Sclerotinia sclerotiorum pathosystem
12/5/2023 Bryce Alex A single amino acid substitution at potential phosphorylation site in HCPro reverses Nytbr defense response to PVYO and PVYN (Exit seminar)
12/7/2023 (Thur.) Judson Vanwyk Life cycle transcriptomics of a homothallic cultivated morel, Morchella rufobrunnea. (Exchange student program – Michigan State University)
12/12/2023 Mariama Carter Let’s Stick Together: Mechanisms of host attachment and biofilm formation in Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum (Exit seminar)
+Spring 2023
Date Presenter Title
Jan. 31 Dr. Korsi Dumenyo (Tennessee State University) The other bacterial wilt: pathogenesis of Erwinia tracheiphila on cucurbits
Feb. 7 Ana Maria Vazquez-Catoni Evaluating the influence of endophytic and pathogenic microorganisms on the success of two vegetatively propagated crops: potato and cranberry
Feb. 14 No seminar (faculty candidate interviews)  
Feb. 21 Dr. Samuel Miller (University of Chicago) Insights into microbial protein evolution and translational regulation through the multi-omics software platform, Anvi’o
Feb. 28    
Mar. 7 Austin VanDenTop Investigating the role of SQUAMOSA promoter-binding proteins in plant Programmed Cell Death regulation
Mar. 14 No seminar (Spring Break)  
Mar. 21 Nicholas Rajtar, University of Minnesota Bio-surveillance of Invasive Forest Pathogens in Minnesota
Mar. 28 Dr. Nancy Keller Ecologically relevant secondary metabolites in microbial communication
April 4 Brandon Roy, Cornell University Profiling plant proteome and transcriptome changes during grapevine fanleaf virus infection
April 11    
April 18 Dr. Katie Gold (Cornell University) Plant Disease Sensing: Studying Plant Pathogen Interactions at Scale
April 20 Evan Lozano Epidemiology and management of cranberry fruit rot in Wisconsin (4:00 PM. Rm 184)
April 25 Maxwell Chibuogwu Understanding Gibberella diseases of Zea mays and management strategies for reducing deoxynivalenol (DON) in silage corn
April 27 Owen Washam Organic Celery Powder: A Meat Curing Agent for Organic Processors (1:00 PM, Rm 216)
May 4 Adam Bigott  
+Fall 2022
Date Presenter Title
9/13/2022 Helena Jaramillo Mesa Deconstructing the TriMV IRES: identifying the functional elements required for translation
9/20/2022    
9/27/2022    
10/4/2022    
10/11/2022    
10/18/2022 Joshua Pultorak Tiny Earth Project – report and discussion
10/25/2022 Zach Zalewski Exploring and capitalizing on genotypic variation of the oat microbiome
11/1/2022 Wade Webster Modernizing integrated management practices for Sclerotinia stem rot of soybean
11/8/2022 Bridget O’Banion, Dept Microbiology U. Tennessee-Knoxville Disentangling the plant microbiome: Identifying host and microbial colonization determinants
11/15/2022 Daniel Lindner, USFS An introduction to the Center for Forest Mycology Research, a mycological resource on campus
11/22/2022 Shannon Piper Host and heavy metal determinants of Aster Yellows Phytoplasma disease dynamics
11/29/2022 No seminar  
12/6/2022 No seminar  
12/13/2022 Jose Sanchez Bioactive Treatments to Improve Crop Productivity
+Spring 2022
Date Presenter Title
January 25 Claire Benezech Postdoc with the Ané lab Development and study of tripartite systems involving legumes, rhizobia and pathogens
February 1 Robyn Roberts, Colorado State Univerisity Leveraging bacterial pathogens of two crops to gain molecular insights into plant immunity
February 8 Wade Webster (Smith Lab) Modernizing Integrated Management Practices for Sclerotinia Stem Rot of Soybean
February 15 Marin Brewer, University of Georgia Environmentally acquired antifungal resistance in a plant-associated pathogen of humans
February 22 David Strickland, Cornell University Fungicide-based solutions, old and new, for effective apple powdery mildew management
March 1 Sharifa Crandall, Pennsylvania State University Twice the Fun: Fungal Disease Ecology and Functional Traits of Specialty Crops
March 8 Daniel Hayden (Lankau and Silva Labs) Stuck in the Weeds: Interseeding Cover Crops in Indigenous Corn Systems
March 22 Max Miao (Lankau Lab) Disentangling the effects of Potato Domestication and Host Determinism in the Rhizosphere Microbiome
March 29 Shane Hansen (Gevens Lab) Protecting the Tuber from Start to Finish
April 5 Daowen Huo (Koch Lab) Targeting oxalic acid production in Clarireedia jacksonii to develop novel control strategies for dollar spot in amenity turfgrass
April 12 Corri Hamilton (Allen Lab) What mechanisms help R. solanacearum succeed in host xylem
April 19 Aaron Lowenstein (Bent Lab) Investigating the mechanism of soybean cyst nematode resistance conferred by Rhg1 WI12 protein
April 26 Nate Westrick (Kabbage Lab) Sclerotinia sclerotiorum survival in an inhospitable host
May 3 Dandan Shao (Kabbage Lab) The Contribution of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum Effectors to Sclerotinia Stem Rot Development in Soybean
+Fall 2021
Date Presenter Title
9/14/2021 Zac Freedman, Assistant Professor, Department of Soil Science, UW-Madison Bringing marginal lands to the center of bioenergy crop production by harnessing the power of the microbiome
9/21/2021 Scott Harper, Assistant Professor, Director of the Clean Plant Center Northwest, Washington State University Two viruses and a phytoplasma – the parallel outbreak of Little cherry and X-disease in the Pacific Northwest
9/28/2021 Adriana Romero-Olivares, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, New Mexico State University Fungal responses to climate change: how tiny fungal genes affect large ecosystems
10/5/2021 Alejandra Huerta, Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NCSU Rhs toxin diversity and function in strain os the Ralstonia solanacearum species complex
10/12/2021 Edel Perez Lopez, Assistant Professor of Phytopathology, Département de Phytologie, Université Laval Redefining clubroot pathotyping in response to canola growers needs
10/19/2021 Afona Irabor, Graduate Student, Gevens Lab Enhancing soil health in potato production systems
10/26/2021 Cara Haney, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia Unearthing mechanisms in plant-microbiome interactions
11/2/2021 Adam Biggott, Graduate Student, Lankau and Allen Labs Investigating Bacterial Communities Associated with Transgenic Disease Resistance in Tomato
11/9/2021 NO SEMINAR  
11/16/2021 Yulin Du, Graduate Student, Bent Lab  
11/23/2021 Mohammad Arif, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant & Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawaii
Note: 11/23 is the day before Thanksgiving break		  
11/30/2021 Alison Robertson, Professor, Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University Seedling disease risk associated with planting corn into a green winter cereal rye cover crop”
12/7/2021 Mark Gleason, Professor, Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Iowa State University Do mesotunnels make sense for organic cucurbit production?
12/14/2021 NO SEMINAR  
+Spring 2021

Seminars are held Tuesdays at 3:30 in 150 Russell Labs, unless otherwise noted.

Date Speaker/Institution Title of Seminar
Jan. 26 NO SEMINAR  
Feb. 2 Led by Dr. Valerie Young Rethinking Impostor Syndrome:  An interactive program
Feb. 9    
Feb. 16 Sanju Kunwar
UW-Madison Plant Pathology, Allen Lab		 Ralstonia solanacearum effector RipBN breaks EFR-mediated resistance by suppressing PTI
Feb. 23 Tiffany Lowe-Power
UW-Madison Plant Pathology, Allen Lab		 Using high-throughput genetics (RB-TnSeq) to map the fitness landscape of plant pathogenic Ralstonia
Mar. 2 Luna Sanchez-Reyes
University of California-Merced
Mar. 9 Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara, Associate Prof and Director of Graduate Studies
UW-Madison Dept. of Afro-American Studies		 Black on the Wisconsin Frontier from Slavery to Suffrage
Mar. 16 Dr. Markus Brauer  
Mar. 23 David Wheeler  
Mar. 30 SPRING BREAK  
Apr. 6 Nandhitha Venkatesh  
Apr. 13 Tina Wu  
Apr. 15
Thurs.		 Christina Zambrana-Echevarria  
Apr. 20 Breanne Krissalstein From Good to Grape (Great): the progression of metagenomic research on the obligate biotroph, Erysiphe necator, and how these studies can influence our ability to manage the disease more effectively
Apr. 27 Brian Schafer  
Apr. 29 Wade Webster  
May 4