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Plant Pathology

Department of Plant Pathology

CFAES

CC Allison Award

Dr. Clyde C. Allison was an outstanding scientist and mentor in the Department of Plant Pathology in the 1940s-1970s.  Through a significant contribution by Dr. Allison, and continuing contributions from students and friends, the C.C. Allison Fund in Plant Pathology was established for presentation of the C.C. Allison Award in recognition of high achievement in research and service to the Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University.

2020 C. C. Allison Award - Coralie Farinas, Ram Khadka, Shaoyan Zhang

2019  C. C. Allison Award - Emile Gluck Thaler and Timothy Frey

2018 C. C. Allison Award - Shan Lin, Karasi Mills, and Claudio Vrisman

2017 C. C. Allison Award - Anna Testen

 

2016 C. C. Allison Award - Ellie K. Walsh and David N. Showalter

David Showalter is investigating mechanisms of ash tree resistance to emerald ash borer.  His advisor is Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello. Showalter received the 2015 Charles E. Thorne Memorial Associateship by the Ohio State's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, which honors one outstanding graduate student each year.  He also successfully led a crowdfunding campaign on experiment.com to raise research funds. Showalter graduated in 2016.

Ellie Walsh's research centered on root know nematode, one of the most economically damaging plant parasitic nematodes of plants worldwide.  Her advisor is Christopher G. Taylor.  Walsh served as president of Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association in 2015.  On a national level, Walsh serves on the American Phytopathological Society (APS) Press Publications Board, and was the 2015-2016 chair of the APS Nematology Committee.  She graduated in 2016.

Horacio Lopez Nicora and CC Allison Award2015 C. C. Allison Award - Horacio Lopez Nicora

Horacio Lopez Nicora, was honored with the 2015 C. C. Allison award by Ohio State’s Department of Plant Pathology, which recognizes excellence in research and exemplary service to the department.  Lopez Nicora, who is advised by Terry Niblack, is studying the biology of soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera) and interactions with charcoal rot (Macrophomina phaseolina) in soybean.   Lopez Nicora is currently a Presidential Fellow, which is Ohio State’s most prestigious graduate fellowship award.  He was also honored with the John M. Webster Outstanding Student Award by the Society of Nematology (SON) at the 2015 SON Annual Meeting in East Lansing, Michigan.  Lopez Nicora was the first graduate student member appointed to the SON Executive Board and served as the chair of the SON graduate student committee. Lopez Nicora earned a B.S. in agronomy from the National University of Asunción in Paraguay, and an M.S. in Crop Sciences niblfrom the University of Illinois, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.


Bonello and Conrad2014 C.C. Allison Award - Anna Conrad

Anna Conrad was honored with the 2014 C. C. Allison Award.  The award, which includes a plaque and $800 for each recipient, recognizes graduate student excellence in research and exemplary service to the department.  Conrad is pursuing her Ph.D. in plant pathology with advisor Pierluigi Bonello.  Her research focuses on mechanisms of oak resistance to Phytophthora ramorum, the causal agent of sudden oak death, and the development of methods to predict resistance to this invasive pathogen within natural populations.  Conrad is the president of the department’s Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association and was plant pathology’s representative on the university-wide Council of Graduate Students in 2013-2014.  Conrad, who holds a BS from the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, was a selected presenter at the APS 2014 I.E. Melhus Graduate Student symposium and is active in plant pathology teaching and outreach.


2013 C.C. Allison Award - Xiaoqing Rong and Patrick Sherwood

Xiaoqing Rong and Patrick W. Sherwood were honored with the 2013 C. C. Allison Award by the Department of Plant Pathology in 2013.  The award, which includes a plaque and $800 for each recipient, recognizes graduate student excellence in research and exemplary service to the department.  Rong, studied with Brian McSpadden Gardener,received her PhD in Summer 2013.  Her dissertation research centered on the diversity and spread of Cryptococcus flavescens, a biocontrol for Fusarium head blight. Her graduate research also encompassed broader aspects of bacterial genomics and microbial ecology.  She was active in the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association and served as the student representative on the department’s Graduate Studies Committee.  She was also awarded the department’s Blair Janson-Wilmer Stover travel scholarship in 2013.

Sherwood, a PhD candidate in Plant Pathology, is studying with advisor Pierluigi Bonello.  His research encompasses physiological and biochemical relationships between pathogen-induced systemic resistance and the growth/differentiation balance hypothesis in the Austrian pine and Diplodia tip blight model system.  Sherwood served as the 2012-2013 president of the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association, and received a highly competitive Charles Thorne Associateship from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center for 2013-2014.

2012  C.C. Allison Award - Jorge David Salgado and Jinnan Hu

Left photo: Jorge David Salgado (center) with advisor Pierce Paul (left) and Larry Madden.
Right photo: Jinnan Hu (left) with advisor Thomas Mitchell.

Jorge David Salgado and Jinnan Hu, plant pathology doctoral students, were honored with the departments C. C. Allison Award.  Salgado, whose advisor is Pierce A. Paul, is studying the epidemiology and management of Fusarium head blight and Stagonospora leaf blotch of wheat.  Salgado's publication in Plant Disease, "Grain Harvesting Strategies to Minimize Grain Quality Losses due to Fusarium Head Blight in Wheat," was selected as an Editor's Pick in November 2011 (authors Salgado, Matthew Wallhead, Larry Madden and Paul). Salgado is the current president of the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association and also contributes to OSU Extension's cereal pathology program.

Hu, whose advisor is Thomas K. Mitchell, was recognized for his achievements in establishing the use of rapid DNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatics to study host-fungal interactions in plant pathogenic fungi.  Much of his work is centered on Magnaporthe oryzae, the causal agent of rice blast.  The award honors the memory of Clyde C. Allison, an outstanding Ohio State plant pathologist and student mentor in the 1940s-1970s, and includes a plaque and monetary award to each recipient/

2011 C.C. Allison Award - Gautam Shirsekar and Dan Anco

Left photo: Gautam Shirsekar (left) with advisor Guo-Liang Wang.  Right photo: Dan Anco (center) with advisors Mike Ellis (left) and Larry Madden

Ph.D. candidates Daniel J. Anco and Gautam S. Shirsekar were honored with the 2011 C. C. Allison Award.  The award, which includes a plaque and $800 for each recipient, recognizes high achievement in research and service to the department.

Anco's research, under the guidance of advisors Mike Ellis and Larry Madden, centers on the epidemiology of Phomopsis cane and leaf spot on grape, with the goal of developing a predictive model for the sporulation of Phomopsis viticola on infected grape vines. The overall objective of his research is to improve the timing of early season fungicide applications for disease control.  He was a selected as a presenter at the I.E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium for the 2011 APS Annual Meeting and has been active in APS and department activities.  Anco's digital imagery was named Best of Show in the 2010 Art in Phytopathology competition, and he has organized several events and fundraisers for the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association (PPGSA).

Shirsekar is studying with Guo-Liang Wang.  His research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of ubiquitination-mediated programmed cell death and defense responses in rice.  He was awarded a prestigious University Fellowship in 2006-2007, served as the PPGSA president in 2008 and was the student representative on the department's graduate studies committee in 2007-2008.  Shirsekar received an OARDC SEEDS graduate student grant in 2009 and has served on the program's review panel.  Shirsekar is first author on a 2010 review article, "Role of Ubiquitination in Plant Innate Immunity and Pathogen Virulence" in the Journal of Plant Biology (53:10-18) with co-authors L. Dai L, Y. Hu, X. Wang, L. Zeng and G-L Wang.


2010 C.C. Allison Award - Margaret Ellis and Jiye Cheng

Left photo: Maggie Ellis (center) with advisors Anne Dorrance (left) and Pierce Paul.

Right photo: Jiye Cheng (right) with advisor Terry Graham.

Margaret L. Ellis and Jiye Cheng were honored with the 2010 C. C. Allison Award.  Ellis' research, under the direction of advisors Anne E. Dorrance and Pierce A. Paul, involves assessment of soybean genotypes for resistance to Pythium spp.  She has served as president and vice-president of the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association at Ohio State.

Cheng, who is studying with Terry Graham, developed novel applications for metabolomics and bioinformatics in plant systems.  His investigations include metabolome-wide responses of soybean plants to elicitors, effectors and hypersensitive cell death mimics that induce disease resistance in soybean, and the use of induced metabolomics for the discovery new pharmaceutical compounds.


2009 C.C. Allison Award - Chan Ho Park

June 2009 - Chan Ho Park, PhD student with Guo-Liang Wang, was named recipient of the 2009  C. C. Allison Award.

2009 - Chan Ho Park

Park was recognized for outstanding research, excellent academic record, and service to the Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association and the Graduate Studies Committee.  The award was announced at an end-of-quarter gathering at the home of Thomas and Ellen Mitchell on June 6, 2009, with several faculty and students in attendance.  Above, left to right, Wang, Park, Graduate Studies Chair Terry Graham, and Department Chair Mike Boehm.


Broders and WangBonello and KleczewskiWang and Vega Sanchez

2008 C.C. Allison Awards - Kirk Broders, Nathan Kleczewski and Miguel Vega Sanchez

Kirk Broders, Nathan Kleczewski and Miguel Vega Sanchez

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.