2011 C.C. Allison Awards
Left photo: Dan Anco (center) with advisors Mike Ellis (left) and Larry Madden.
Right photo: Gautam Shirsekar (left) with advisor Guo-Liang Wang.
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.
Four plant pathology students were inducted into Gamma Sigma Delta, an honorary society of agriculture, at their Annual Initiation and Awards Program on April 5, 2012, at the Ohio State Columbus campus.
Photo, left to right: Chan Ho Park, PhD candidate (Guo-Liang Wang, advisor); Amber Hoffstetter, Plant Health Management honors student (Dennis Lewandowski, honors thesis advisor and Thomas K. Mitchell, academic advisor); Jiye Cheng, PhD candidate (Terry Graham, advisor) and Alissa B. Kriss, PhD candidate (Larry Madden and Pierce Paul, advisors).
Andika Gunadi, MS student in Plant Pathology, was awarded a $5000 graduate scholarship from the Ohio Soybean Council Foundation for the 2011-2012 academic year. Gunadi, whose advisor is Anne E. Dorrance, earned a BS in Biochemistry from Ohio State. He entered the graduate program in 2010 and is working on the project, "Linkage Analysis and Sequence Characterization of Rps8 and Rps3 Resistance Genes in Soybean Chromosome 13." OSCF scholarships are awarded competitively based on merit to students enrolled at Ohio universities engaged in soybean research. Previous scholarship awardees from Dorrance's program include Hehe Wang (2010-2011) and Margaret L. Ellis (2009-2010).
Congratulations Winter 2011 Graduates
Oscar Burbano Figueroa, MS (advisor, T. Mitchell)
Kate Gearhart, MS (advisor, A. Dorrance)
Alissa Kriss, PhD candidate in Plant Pathology, will be honored with the 2011 OARDC William E. Krauss Director's Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies for the best paper by a doctoral student in 2010 for the publication, Relationship between Yearly Fluctuations in Fusarium Head Blight Intensity and Environmental Variabales: A Window-Pane Analysis (2010 Phytopathology 110:784-797) by Kriss, Pierce A. Paul, and Laurence V. Madden. Madden and Paul are Kriss' advisors. They will be recognized at the OARDC Annual Research Conference on April 28 in Columbus.
PhD candidates Dan Anco (right) and Alissa Kriss were chosen to present their research at the 2011 Melhus Graduate Student Symposium, "Today's Students Making a Difference in the Field of Plant Disease Epidemiology and Disease Management," at the American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, Aug. 6-10, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Anco will present,"Effects of Temperature and Wetness Duration on the Sporulation Rate of Phomopsis viticola on Infected Grape Canes." His advisors are Mike Ellis and Larry Madden. Kriss will present, "Climate, Weather, and the Heterogeneity of Fusarium Head Blight." Kriss is advised by Madden and Pierce Paul.