David Showalter

Based on patterns from currently infested areas in Michigan and Ohio, the emerald ash borer [(EAB) Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire] has the potential to devastate North American ash (Fraxinus spp.) populations in urban and forest settings, resulting in enormous ecological and economic damage until ash is functionally eliminated or management strategies improve.   My research intends to further characterize the physiological and biochemical defense mechanisms associated with resistance in ash species to the emerald ash borer.

I am using integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches to characterize induced defense responses between resistant and susceptible ash species.  Water, nutrient, and jasmonate stress treatments will explore the effects of environmental variability on previously observed resistance phenotypes.

Identification of resistance-associated biochemical traits will provide markers for accelerated screening in breeding programs and/or candidate resistance genes for generation of hybrid or transgenic EAB-resistant North American ash.

Understanding of anatomical resistance mechanisms and the impacts of environmental stresses can inform more immediate and practical management practices.

Hometown

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Grants, Honors and Awards

• OARDC Professional Development Grant
• Experiment.com Research Crowdfunding Project: Can we save ash trees from the emerald ash borer? 2014. $6,350
• OARDC SEEDS Grant, Identifying Ash Transcripts Associated with Emerald Ash Borer Resistance, 2014. $5,000
• Entomological Society of America YouTube Your Entomology Video Competition, First Prize, Outreach Category, 2014
• Gamma Sigma Delta Agricultural Honor Society, 2014
• Excellence in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Fellowship, Ohio State, 2011-2013
• CFAES Environmental Graduate Research Fellowship, Ohio State, 2013-2014
• Cords of Distinction, for academic excellence and university service, EMU, 2009
• American Chemical Society Outstanding Senior, Department of Chemistry, EMU, 2009
• Honors Program, EMU, 2005-2009

Teaching and Outreach

• General Plant Pathology (PLNTPTH 3002), teaching assistant, Autumn 2012
• Ecology and Management of Insects and Pathogens Affecting Trees in Forest and Urban Environments (PLNTPTH/ENTMLGY 5110), teaching assistant, Spring 2013
• State Science Day, special awards judge (Plant Pathology), May 10, 2014, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

Activities

• Ohio State Unversity Laboratory Safety Committee, 2014-2015
• Ohio State Unversity Research Committee, 2014-2015
• Council of Graduate Students, The Ohio State University
  Delegate, Plant Pathology, 2014-2015
  Academic Relations Committee, 2014-2015
• Department of Plant Pathology Academic Affairs Committee, 2013-2014
• Plant Pathology Graduate Students Association
  Travel Grant Committee Chair, 2014-2015
  Social Chair, 2013-2014
  Plant Sale Chair, Columbus, 2013-2014

About Me

When I’m not in the field or the lab, I’m in the garden or the kitchen.  I love food and friends to share it with, from planting seeds to sitting around a dinner table.