Sarah Ellis and Plant Pathology grad and undergrad students submitted the first place entry in the APS "Dirty Jobs in Plant Pathology" contest. > View the video!

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 Congratulations to the following American Phytopathological Society (APS) travel award recipients for the APS Centennial Meeting, July 26-30. in Minneapolis.  Left to right:

Nathan Kleczewski: Kenneth Barker Student Travel Award

Gautaum Shirsekar: Zahir Eyal Student Travel Award

Pattavipha Songkumarn: H. David Thurston Student Travel Award

Xiulan Xu: APS Council Student Travel Award

Valdir Correa: The Myron Brakke Award

Congratulations to Annemarie Nagle (left) Sawsan Elateek (middle) and Kirk Broders who were awarded travel awards from the APS North Central Region to attend the APS Centennial Meeting, July 26-30, in Minneapolis. Ohio State at the APS Centennial Meeting

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Congratulations to recipients of the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association (PPGSA) Patricia Ngwira Travel Awards:

Maria Soledad Benitez - Carola De La Torre Cuba - Sawsan Elateek

Nathan Kleczewski - John Koenig - Annemarie Nagle
Rosa Raudales - Miguel Vega Sanchez - Gautam Shirsekar

Hehe Wang - Xiulan Xu - Clara Zumpetta

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Maria Soledad Benitez was awarded an  Edward J. Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service from Ohio State's Council of Graduate Students.  Soledad is a doctoral candidate studying with Dr. Brian McSpadden Gardener.  The grant was used to help fund travel for her poster presentation, "Identification of Bacteria for Soil-borne Disease Suppression,"  (M.S. Benitez and B. McSpadden Gardener) at the American Society for Microbiology 108th General Meeting in Boston, Mass., June 1-5.

John Koenig was awarded an  Edward J. Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service from Ohio State's Council of Graduate Students.  John, an MS student studying with Dr. Michael J. Boehm, was one of 27 awardees from 86 applicants.  The award was used to help fund his participation in the American Phytopathological Society Centennial Meeting, July 26-30, in Minneapolis. 

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Kirk Broders, Nathan Kleczewski and Miguel Vega Sanchez were named 2008 recipients of the C.C. Allison Award, in recognition of high achievement in graduate research and service to the Department of Plant Pathology.  The awards were announced at the Plant Pathology seminar on May 27, which was also Miguel's PhD exit seminar.  Congratulations to three outstanding graduate students on this prestigious honor!

	2008 C.C. Allison Award winners, Kirk Broders (far left) with advisor Dr. Anne Dorrance; Nathan Kleczewski (lower left photo, standing right) with advisor Dr. Pierluigi Bonello; and Miguel Vega Sanchez (lower right photo, standing right) with advisor Dr. Guo-liang Wang.

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Sawsan Elateek, Miguel Vega-Sanchez and Clara Zumpetta were initiated into Gamma Sigma Delta, the honor society of agriculture, at the Ohio State Chapter's Annual Initiation and Awards program, May 30, Ag Admin Audutorium, Columbus.

Gamma Sigma Delta fosters high standards of scholarship in agricultural teaching, research and service.  Pictured above: Sawsan Elateek (left) and Clara Zumpetta.

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Graduate Research Competition for SEEDS - the OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program

Melanie Ivey, PhD student, "The impact of plant pathogen biofilms on the colonization and persistence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on lettuce," from the .  Advisor: Sally Miller

Annemarie Nagle, MS student, "Assessing the role of soil properties, soil moisture levels, and Phytophthora cinnamomi in a cecline syndrome of Quercus alba in Southern Ohio.  Advisor: Pierluigi Bonello

Justin Whitehill, PhD student, "Constitutive phloem proteins and phenolics in ash species resistant and susceptible to the Emerald Ash Borer."  Advisor: Pierluigi Bonello 

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Spring 2008 -  The Ohio Soybean Council Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the Ohio Agricultural Science and Bioproducts Research Scholarships for the 2008-2009 academic year.   A Graduate scholarship of $5,000 has been awarded to Plant Pathology PhD student Margaret Ellis.  Undergraduate scholarships of $3,000 each have been awarded to our Plant Health Management majors Laura Bruner, Kate Gearhart, and Kara Riggs; Crop Science major Jason Greve, and agricultural engineering major Brian Herringshaw.  Congratulations to the scholarship winners on their outstanding achievements!

> OSC Foundation Press Release

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OARDC Conference, April 17, Wooster.  Graduate Student Posters:

2nd place, PhD students, Nathan Kleczewski, "Potential regulation of ectomycorrhizae by paper birch in response to soil type and fertilization: Linking the growth differentiation balance hypothesis and carbon allocation models."  Advisor: Pierluigi Bonello.

2nd place, MS students, Rosa Raudales, "In vitro screening for biocontrol potential abilities of Ohio bacterial isolates over tomato pathogens."  Advisor: Brian McSpadden Gardener.  This is Rosa's second consecutive 2nd place award in the OARDC Conference poster competition.

Other Plant Pathology student presenters:

Robert Beaulieu, "Oxalic acid production by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa: The causal agent of dollar spot."  Honors thesis advisor: Michael J. Boehm.

John Koenig, "Controlling dollar spot: Climactic conditions and the timing of fungicide applications.  MS advisor: Michael J. Boehm.

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Autumn 2007 - Winter 2008: Congratulations to Dr. Jorunn Bos, Dr. Jing Song, Dr. Christopher Wallis and Dr. Rose Palumbo who were awarded their doctoral degrees!

Miguel Vega Sanchez
Travel grant award, 2008 Joint Meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists and the Sociedad Mexicana de Bioquimica, June 26 - July 1, Merida, Mexico.

Melanie L. Lewis Ivey
The Arthur Kelman Award, Student Travel Award, American Phytopathological Society (APS) Foundation , 2007 Joint Meeting APS and Society of Nematologists, July 28-Aug. 1, 2007, San Diego, Calif.

Kirk Broders
The Landis International Award, Student Travel Award, APS  Foundation , 2007 Joint Meeting APS and Society of Nematology, July 28-Aug. 1, 2007, San Diego, Calif.

Maria Soledad Benitez
APS Council Award, Student Travel Award, APS Foundation , 2007 Joint Meeting APS and SON, July 28-Aug. 1, 2007, San Diego, Calif.

Carola De La Torre Cuba
Travel grant, MAEC AECI (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperacion Internacional), INIA (National Institute for Agricultural Research), Madrid, Spain.  Nov 19-30, 2007

Miguel Vega Sanchez
Excellence in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Graduate Fellowship, 2007-2008

Miguel Vega Sanchez
Best student oral presentation, Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Symposium, March 31, 2007, Columbus, Ohio

Daniel Anco
OARDC Director's Associateship Award - 2007

Maria Soledad Benitez
Grant recipient, SEEDS: The OARDC Graduate Research Enhancement Grant Program, 2007-2008

Maria Soledad Benitez
2007 C.C. Allison Award in recognition of high achievement in graduate research and service to the Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University

Rose Palumbo
Ohio Supercomputer Center grant, Detection of Genetic Variation in the Genus Pelargonium by Target Region Amplification Polymorphism (TRAP) Markers

Christopher Wallis
2007 North Central American Phytopathological Society Travel Award, Annual Meeting of the North Central Division of APS in Indianapolis, Ind.  June 19-21, 2007

Gautum Shirsekar
University Fellowship, 2006-2007

Nathan Kleczewski
2006 OARDC Graduate Research grant

Melanie L. Lewis Ivey
Professional Growth and Development Scholarship, The Ohio State University/Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), 2006

Nathan Kleczewski
Invited presentation, Annual Meeting of the American Phytopathological Society in Quebec City, Canada, for the Urban Tree Health symposium, July 29-Aug 2, 2006

Nathan Kleczewski
Invited discussion for a special session, Mycorrhizae in Urban Ecosystems, Annual Meeting of the American Phytopathological Society in Quebec City, Canada, July 29-Aug 2, 2006

Nathan Kleczewski
Invited presentation Plant Health Care workshop, "Mycorrhizae in Urban Landscapes: Their importance, utility, and implementation," OARDC, Wooster, July 20, 2006

Christopher Wallis
2006 OARDC Graduate Research grant

Christopher Wallis
The John F. Fulkerson and Larry W. Moore Student Travel Award, Student Travel Award, APS Foundation , 2006 Joint Meeting APS, CPS and MSA, July 29-Aug. 2, 2006, Quebec, Canada 

Miguel Vega Sanchez
The Eddie Echandi and APS Council Travel Award, Student Travel Award, APS Foundation, 2006 Joint Meeting APS, CPS and MSA, July 29-Aug. 2, 2006, Quebec, Canada

Chat Jantasuriyarat
Travel Award, American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting, Seattle WA, Aug. 10-14, 2005

Chat Jantasuriyarat
2005 travel and study grant award ($3,500) from Asia Rice Foundation USA to visit Ubon Ratchathani University and Ubon Ratchathani Rice research Institute, Thailand

Chat Jantasuriyarat
2005 C.C. Allison Award in recognition of high achievement in graduate research and service to the Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University

Rosa Raudales and Brian McSpadden Gardener

Linking Plant Stress Amelioration to Root Bacteria; Role of Soil pH.  OARDC Annual Conference Poster, 2nd place award in poster competition, March, 2007, Columbus, Ohio

Angel Rebollar Alviter
2006 C.C. Allison Award in recognition of high achievement in graduate research and service to the Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University

Angel Rebollar Alviter
Member of the Honor Society of Agriculture, 2006

Angel Rebollar Alviter
Scholarship for PhD studies from the government of Mexico (CONACYT)

Mizuho Nita
Invited speaker, I. E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium at the 2005 APS Annual Meeting, July 30-Aug. 3, 2005, Austin, Texas

Nathan Kleczewski
Invited presentation, Michigan Forestry and Park Association Research Medley, Sept. 14-15, 2005, Dow Gardens, Middleton, Mich.

Frances Ockels
Invited presentation, Michigan Forestry and Park Association Research Medley, Sept. 14-15, 2005, Dow Gardens, Middleton, Mich.