Rebecca Nelson

Selected Publications: Research & Extension (Last 9 years)

• Siegel, C., Aoun, M., Windham, G. L., Williams, W. P., & Nelson, R. J.  2023. A balancing act: Synthetic oversampling corrects skewed distribution of aflatoxin in maize and improves prediction of contaminated kernels. Food Control, 154, 109953.
• Wenndt, A., R. Boyles, A. Ackerman, S. Sapkota, A. Repka and R. Nelson. 2023. Host determinants of fungal species composition and symptom manifestation in the sorghum grain mold complex. Plant Disease:  https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-22-0675-RE
• Kolkman, J.M., Moreta, D.E., Repka, A., Bradbury, P., and Nelson, R.J. 2022. Brown midrib mutant and genome-wide association analysis uncover lignin genes for disease resistance in maize. 2022. The Plant Genome, e20278.
• Barrett, C. B., Benton, T., Fanzo, J., Herrero, M., Nelson, R. J., Bageant, E., ... & Wood, S. 2022. Socio-technical innovation bundles for agri-food systems transformation (p. 195). Springer Nature.
• Freiband, A, K.L. Dickin, M. Glass, M.A. Gore, J. Hinestroza, R. Nelson, V. Platt, A. Sachs, N. Stern and J. Lehmann. 2022.  Undisciplining the university through shared purpose, practice and place.  Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 9(172). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01195-4
• Aoun, M., C. S. Siegel, G. Windham, P. Williams, R.J. Nelson. 2022. Application of reflectance spectroscopy to identify maize genotypes and aflatoxin levels in single kernels. World Mycotoxin Journal, 15(4), 327-342.
• Kolkman, J., D.E. Moreta, A. Repka, P. Bradbury and R.J. Nelson.  2022. Uncovering the roles of lignin-related genes in disease resistance in maize using mutant and association analysis.  BioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.08.487682
• Stafstrom, W., Wushensky, J., Fuchs, J., Xu, W., Ezera, N., & Nelson, R. J. 2021. Validation and application of a low-cost sorting device for fumonisin reduction in maize.  Toxins 13(9), 652;  https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13090652
• Barrett, C.B. …  R. Nelson, … L.M. Sibanda. COVID-19 pandemic lessons for agri-food systems innovation.  2021.  Environ. Res. Lett. in press https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac25b9
• Rogers, A.R., … R. Nelson… Holland, J. B. 2021. The importance of dominance and genotype-by-environment interactions on grain yield variation in a large-scale public cooperative maize experiment. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaa050
• Phillips, E., P. Turner, N. Kassim, E. Makule, R. Nelson, F. Ngure, L. Smith, R. Stoltzfus.  2021. Ethical considerations of the trial to establish a causal linkage between mycotoxin exposure and child stunting.  Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 5, Supplement_2.   https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzab045_060
• Nicklin, C., T. Chancellor, A. Garcia, L. Gohole, B. Haussmann, P. Kaijage, J. Maland Cady, K. Miller, M. Moore, R. Nelson, M. Powers, and B. Some.  2021.  Funder-initiated communities of practice as a means for sharing and creating knowledge in order to strengthen the adaptive capacity of systems.  The Foundation Review 13 (1): 70-83.
• Richardson, M., Coe, R., Descheemaeker, K., Wellard, K., Moore, M., Maland Cady, J. M., P. Gubbels, F. Tchuwa, R. Paz, and R. Nelson. 2021. Farmer research networks in principle and practice. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 0(0), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2021.1930954
• Stafstom, W.  A. Wenndt and R. Nelson, 2021. Mycotoxin Surveillance for Low-resource Settings. In Mycotoxins in Food and Beverages Innovations and Advances Part I (pp. 1-29). CRC Press.
• Wenndt, A. J., Kishan, H., Pingali, P., & Nelson, R. 2021. Farmer research networks enable community-based mycotoxin management in rural Indian villages. Agricultural Systems, 192(May), 103192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103192
• Ngure, F.M., C. Ngure, G. Achieng, F. Munga, Z. Moran, W. Stafstrom, and R.J. Nelson.  2021.  Mycotoxins contamination of market maize and the potential of density sorting in reducing exposure in unregulated food systems in Kenya.  World Mycotoxin Journal 14(2): 165-178.  https://doi.org/10.3920/WMJ2020.2631
• Wenndt, A. J., Sudini, H. K., Mehta, R., Pingali, P., & Nelson, R. 2021. Spatiotemporal assessment of post-harvest mycotoxin contamination in rural North Indian food systems. Food Control, 126(March), 108071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108071
•  Aoun, M., Stafstrom, W., Priest, P., Fuchs, J., Windham, G. L., Williams, W. P., & Nelson, R. J. (2020). Low-cost grain sorting technologies to reduce mycotoxin contamination in maize and groundnut. Food Control, 118(May), 107363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107363
• Wenndt A, Sudini HK, Pingali P, Nelson R.  2020.  Exploring aflatoxin contamination and household-level exposure risk in diverse Indian food systems. PLOS ONE 15(10): e0240565.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240565
• Barrett, C.B., T.G. Benton, K.A. Cooper, J. Fanzo, R. Gandhi, M. Herreo, S. James, M. Khan, D. Mason-D’Croz, A. Mathys, R.J. Nelson, J. Shen, P. Thornton, E. Bageant, S. Fan, A.G. Mude, L.M. Sibanda and S. Wood. 2020.  Bundling innovations to transform agri-food systems. Nat Sustain 3, 974–976. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00661-8
• Barrett, C.B., T. Benton, J. Fanzo, M. Herrero, R.J. Nelson, E. Bageant, E. Buckler, K. Cooper, I. Culotta, S. Fan, R. Gandhi, S. James, M. Kahn, L. Lawson-Lartego, J. Liu, Q. Marshall, D. Mason-D’Croz, A. Mathys, C. Mathys, V. Mazariegos-Anastassiou, A.B. Miller, K. Misra, A.G. Mude, J. Shen, L.M. Sibanda, C. Song, R. Steiner, P. Thornton, and S. Wood. 2020.  Socio-technical Innovation Bundles for Agri-food Systems Transformation, Report of the International Expert Panel on Innovations to Build Sustainable, Equitable, Inclusive Food Value Chains. Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Springer Nature.
• Kolkman JM, Strable J, Harline K, Kroon DE, Wiesner-Hanks T, Bradbury PJ, Nelson RJ. 2020. Maize introgression library provides evidence for the involvement of liguleless1 in resistance to northern leaf blight. G3 0(0):doi: 10.1534/g3.120.401500
• Aoun, M., W. Stafstrom, P. Priest, J. Fuchs, G.L. Windham, W.P. Williams, and R.J. Nelson.  2020.  Low-cost grain sorting technologies to reduce mycotoxin contamination in maize and groundnut.  Food Control:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107363 
• Morales, L., Repka, A., Swarts, K. L., Stafstrom, W. C., He, Y., Sermons, S. M., Yang, Q., Lopez‐Zuniga, L.O., Rucker, E., Thomason, Wade, E., Nelson, R.J., and Balint‐Kurti, P. J. 2020. Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of a large, diverse population of maize near‐isogenic lines. The Plant Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14787Nelson, R. 2020.  International agriculture's needed shift from energy intensification to agroecological intensification.  Food Policy: 101815.
• Phillips, E., F. Ngure, L. Smith, E. Makule, P.C. Turner, R. Nelson, M. Kimanya, R. Stoltzfus and N. Kassim.  2020.  Protocol for the trial to establish a causal link between mycotoxin exposure and child stunting: a cluster randomized trial.  BMC Public Health.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08694-6
• Nelson, R.  2020.  International plant pathology: past and future contributions to global food security.  Phytopathology 11(2): 245-253.
• Ortiz O., Thiele G., Nelson R., Bentley J.W. (2020) Participatory research (PR) at CIP with potato farming systems in the Andes: Evolution and prospects. In: Campos H., Ortiz O. (eds) The Potato Crop. Springer, Cham
• Wiesner-Hanks, T., Wu, H., Stewart, E., DeChant, C., Kaczmar, N., Lipson, H., Gore, M.A., and Nelson, R. J. 2019. Millimeter-level plant disease detection from aerial photographs via deep learning and crowdsourced data. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10 (December), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01550
• Wu, H., Wiesner-Hanks, T., Stewart, E. L., DeChant, C., Kaczmar, N., Gore, M. A., Nelson, R.J., and Lipson, H. (2019). Autonomous Detection of Plant Disease Symptoms Directly from Aerial Imagery. The Plant Phenome Journal 2(1), 0. https://doi.org/10.2135/tppj2019.03.0006
• Falcon, Celeste; Kaeppler, SM; Spalding, EP; Miller, ND; Haase, N; Al Khalifah, N; Bohn, M; Buckler, ES; Campbell, DA; Ciampitti, I; Coffey, L; Edwards, J; Ertl, D; Flint-Garcia, S; Gore, MA; Graham, C; Hirsch, CN; Holland, JB; Jarquin, D; Knoll, J; Lauter, N; Lawrence-Dill, CJ; Lee, EC; Lorenz, A; Lynch; JP; Murray, SC; Nelson, RJ; Romay, MC; Rocheford, T; Schnable, PS; Scully, B; Smith, M; Springer, N; Tuinstra, MR; Walton, R; Weldekidan, T; Wisser, RJ; Xu, W; de Leon, N; 2019.  Relative utility of agronomic, phenological, and morphological traits for assessing genotype-by-environment interaction in maize inbreds. Crop Sci. 2020;1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20035
• Kolkman, J.M., J. Strable, K. Harline, D.E. Kroon, T. Wiesner-Hanks, P.J. Bradbury and R.J. Nelson.  2019.  Maize nested introgression library provides evidence for the involvement of liguless1 in resistance to northern leaf blight.  Doi: https:/doi.org/10.1101/818518. On bioRxiv: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/818518v1
• Stewart, E. L., Wiesner-Hanks, T., Kaczmar, N., DeChant, C., Wu, H., Lipson, H., Nelson, R.J. and Gore, M. A. 2019. Quantitative Phenotyping of Northern Leaf Blight in UAV Images Using Deep Learning. Remote Sensing, 11(19), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11192209
• Bullock, D., A. Mangeni, T. Wiesner-Hanks, C. DeChant, E. Stewart, N. Kaczmar, R.J. Nelson, M.A. Gore, and H. Lipson.  2019. Automated crabgrass detection in aerial imagery with context.  arXiv preprint arXiv:1910.00652
• Doblas- Ibáñez, P., Deng, K., Vasquez, M. F., Giese, L., Cobine, P. A., Kolkman, J. M., King, H., Jamann, T.M., Balint-Kurti, P., De la Fuent, L., Mackey, D., Nelson, R.J., and Smith, L. G. 2019. Dominant, heritable resistance to Stewart’s wilt in maize is associated with an enhanced vascular defense response to infection with Pantoea stewartii. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 32(12), 1581–1597. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-05-19-0129-R
• Morales, L., C.T. Zila, D.E. Moreta, M.M. Arbelaez, P.G. Balint-Kurti, J.B. Holland and R.J. Nelson.  2019.  Diverse mechanisms of resistance to Fusarium verticillioides infection and fumonisin contamination in four maize recombinant inbred line families.  Toxins 11(2), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11020086
• Ortiz, O., R. Nelson, M. Olanya, G. Thiele, R. Orrego, W. Pradel, R. Kakehunzire, G. Woldegiorgis, J. Gabriel, J. Vallejo, and X. Kaiyun.  2019.  Human and technical dimensions of potato IPM using farmer field schools: CIP and partners’ experience with potato late blight management.  Journal of Integrated Pest Management 10 (1): 4.  https://doi.org/10.1093/jipm/pmz002
• Lopez-Zuniga, L.O., P. Wolters, S. Davis, T. Weldekidan, J. Kolkman, R. Nelson, K. Hooda, E. Rucker, W. Thomason, R. Wisser and P. Balint-Kurti.  2019.  Using maize chromosome segment substitution line populations for the identification of loci associated with multiple disease resistance.  G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 9 (1): 189-201; https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.118.200866
• Mutiga, S., N. Chepkwony, O. A. Hoekenga, S.A. Flint-Garcia and R.J. Nelson. 2019. The role of ear environment in post-harvest susceptibility of maize to toxigenic Aspergillus flavus.  Plant Breeding 138(1): 38-50.  DOI: 10.1111/pbr.12672
• Klessig, D.F., M. Manohar, S. Baby, A. Koch, W. Danquah, B. Wiseborn, E. Luna, H.-J. Park, J.M. Kolkman, B.G. Turgeon, and R. Nelson.  2019.  Nematode ascaroside enhances resistance in a broad spectrum of plant–pathogen systems.  Journal of Phytopathology 167 (5): 265-272.
• Minker, Katharine R; M. L. Biedrzycki; A. Kolagunda; S. Rhein; F. J. Perina; S. S. Jacobs; M. Moore; T. M. Jamann; Q.Yang; R. Nelson; 2018.  Semiautomated confocal imaging of fungal pathogenesis on plants: Microscopic analysis of macroscopic specimens. Microscopy Research and Technique 81 (2): 141-152.
• Al Khalifah, N., D. A. Campbell, C. M. Falcon, J. M. Gardiner, N. D. Miller, M. C. Romay, R. Walls, R. Walton, C-T. Yeh, M. Bohn and R. Nelson. 2018.  Maize Genomes to Fields: 2014 and 2015 field season genotype, phenotype, environment, and inbred ear image datasets. BioMed Central, BMC research notes 11 (1): 452.
• Morales, L., Marino, T.P., Wendt, A.J., Fouts, J.Q., Holland, J.B., and Nelson, R.J.  2018.  Dissecting symptomatology and fumonisin contamination produced by Fusarium verticillioides in maize ears
• Phytopathology, 5 Nov 2018, DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-05-18-0167-R
• Wiesner-Hanks, T., Stewart, E. L., Kaczmar, N., DeChant, C., Wu, H., Nelson, R. J., Lipson, H., and Gore, M. A. 2018. Image set for deep learning: field images of maize annotated with disease symptoms. BMC Research Notes In Press doi: 10.1186/s13104-018-3548-6
• Mideros, S.X., Chung, C.-L., Wiesner-Hanks, T., Poland, J., Wu, D., Fialko, A.A., Turgeon, G., Nelson, R., 2018. Determinants of virulence and in-vitro development colocalize on a genetic map of Setosphaeria turcica.   Phytopathology. doi:10.1094/PHYTO-01-17-0021-R
• Nelson, R., T. Wiesner-Hanks, R. Wisser and P. Balint-Kurti. 2017. Navigating complexity to breed disease-resistant crops. Nature Genetics Reviews. doi:10.1038/nrg.2017.82
• Gage et al. … R. Nelson, … N. de Leon. 2017. The effect of artificial selection on phenotypic plasticity in maize. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01450-2 [40 authors mostly in alphabetical order]
• DeChant, C., Wiesner-Hanks, T., Chen, S., Stewart, E.L., Yosinski, J., Gore, M.A., Nelson, R., Lipson, H. 2017.  Automated identification of norther leaf blight-infected maize plants from field imagery using deep learning.  In press, Phytopathology. PHYTO11160417R. doi:10.1094/PHYTO-11-16-0417-R
• Yang, Q., He, Y., Kabahuma, M., Chaya, T., Kelly, A., Borrego, E., Bian, Y., El Kasmi, F., Yang, L., Teixeira, P., Kolkman, J., Nelson, R., Kolomiets, M., L Dangl, J., Wisser, R., Caplan, J., Li, X., Lauter, N., Balint-Kurti, P., 2017. A gene encoding maize caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferase confers quantitative resistance to multiple pathogens. Nature Genetics 49, 1364–1372.
• Stasiewicz, M.J., Falade, T.D.O., Mutuma, M., Mutiga, S.K., Harvey, J.J.W., Fox, G., Pearson, T.C., Muthomi, J.W., Nelson, R., 2017. Multi-spectral kernel sorting to reduce aflatoxins and fumonisins in Kenyan maize. Food Control. 78: 203-214.
• Smith, L.E., Mbuya, M.N.N., Prendergast, A.J., Turner, P.C., Ruboko, S., Humphrey, J.H., Nelson, R., Chigumira, A., Kembo, G., Stoltzfus, R.J., 2017. Determinants of recent aflatoxin exposure among pregnant women in rural Zimbabwe. Mol Nutr Food Res 61. doi:10.1002/mnfr.201601049
• Mutiga, S.K., Morales, L., Angwenyi, S., Wainaina J., Harvey, J., Das, B., Nelson, R. 2017. Association between agronomic traits and aflatoxin accumulation in diverse maize lines grown under two soil nitrogen levels in Eastern Kenya. Field Crops Research. 205: p. 124-134.
• Michelmore, R., Coaker, G., Bart, R., Beattie, G., Bent, A., Bruce, T., Cameron, D., Dangl, J., Dinesh-Kumar, S., Edwards, R., Eves-van den Akker, S., Gassmann, W., Greenberg, J.T., Hanley-Bowdoin, L., Harrison, R.J., Harvey, J., He, P., Huffaker, A., Hulbert, S., Innes, R., Jones, J.D.G., Kaloshian, I., Kamoun, S., Katagiri, F., Leach, J., Ma, W., McDowell, J., Medford, J., Meyers, B., Nelson, R., Oliver, R., Qi, Y., Saunders, D., Shaw, M., Smart, C., Subudhi, P., Torrance, L., Tyler, B., Valent, B., Walsh, J., 2017. Foundational and Translational Research Opportunities to Improve Plant Health. MPMI 30, 515–516. doi:10.1094/MPMI-01-17-0010-CR
• Wiesner-Hanks, T., & Nelson, R. 2016. Multiple Disease Resistance in Plants. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-080615-100037
• Nelson, R.  2016.  Sorting technologies to rehabilitate toxic maize.  Outlooks on Pest Management.  DOI: 10.1564/v27_dec_00
• Nelson, R., Coe, R., & Haussmann, B. I. G. 2016. Farmer research networks as a strategy for matching diverse options and contexts in smallholder agriculture. Experimental Agriculture, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479716000454
• Smith, L., Stasiewicz, M., Hestrin, R., Morales, L., Mutiga, S., & Nelson, R. 2016. Examining environmental drivers of spatial variability in aflatoxin accumulation in Kenyan maize: potential utility in risk prediction models. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 16(3), 11086–11105. https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.75.ILRI09
• Liu, X., J. Cook, S. Melia-Hancock, K. Guill, C. Bottoms, A. Garcia, O. Ott, R. Nelson, J. Recker, P. Balint-Kurti, S. Larsson, N. Lepak, E. Buckler, L. Trimble, W. Tracy, M.D. McMullen and S.A. Flint-Garcia.  2015.  Expanding maize genetic resources with pre-domestication alleles: maize-teosinte introgression populations.  The Plant Genome Accepted paper, posted 10/05/2015, doi:10.3835/plantgenome2015.07.0053
• Benson, J.A., J.A. Poland, B.M. Benson, E.L. Stromberg and R.J. Nelson.  2015.  Resistance to Gray Leaf Spot of Maize: Genetic Architecture and Mechanisms Elucidated through Nested Association Mapping and Near-Isogenic Line Analysis. PLoS genetics 11.3 (2015): e1005045-e1005045.
• Mutiga, S.K., V. Hoffmann, J. W. Harvey, M. G. Milgroom, and R. J. Nelson.  2015.  Assessment of aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination of maize in western Kenya.  Phytopathology 105(9): 1250-1261.

Grant portfolio of over $16 million since 2011 

Current and pending support 

• Project title: Circular Soils for City Spaces. USDA-NIFA (2023–2027). PI: R Nelson; Co-PIs: J. Lehmann, C. Laio and E. Palmer. Award amount: $900,000
• Project title: Grow-As-You-Go: Raised-bed Gardening While Co-composting Underutilized Organic Resources. Hatch and Smith-Lever (2023-2026). Award amount: $165,000
• Project title: Toward a Circular Bionutrient Economy: New Methods of Managing Excreta for Improved Soil Health, Carbon Sequestration, Contaminant Removal, and Social Acceptability. Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) (2023-2027). Led by Rich Earth Institute. Co-PI for Cornell with Johannes Lehmann. Award amount: $718,805
• Project title: Advancing the Circular Bionutrient Economy in the Lake Victoria Basin (2022-2024). McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program (2022-2025). Award amount: $195,000
• [Pending] Project title: Greenhouse and Field Studies to Understand PFAS Plant Uptake from Contaminated Soil and Mitigation Using Biochar and Mycelium Membranes. US Environmental Protection Agency. Co-PI with Johannes Lehmann. Cornell budget would be $400,000 if funded (Lead PI is Diana Aga at University at Buffalo)
• Project title: Establishment of an Indigenous Garden at the Dilmun Hill Student Farm. Toward Sustainability Foundation (2024-2025). Award amount: $10,000
• Gift to support the 2024 annual Chris Dennis Circularity Symposium.  Chris Dennis Environmental Foundation(2024). Gift amount: $7,500
• Einhorn Opportunity Fund to support PFAS analysis. Award amount: $3,000
• Project title: Toward Circular Bionutrient Economy: Supporting Student Innovation at Cornell’s Student Agroecological Farm at Dilmun Hill and the Soil Factory in Ithaca.  Source of Support: Toward Sustainability Foundation (2023-2024). Award amount: $10,000
• Project title: Circular Bionutrient Economy for AgriFood System Transition. The Polson Institute (2023). Co-PIs: C. Liao and R. Nelson. Award amount: $5,000
•   Project title: Circular Economy Engaged Curriculum. Einhorn Cornell (2022-2023). PI: R Nelson; Co-PIs: Lori Leonard and others.  Funding Source:  Einhorn Cornell. Award amount: $10,000
• Project title: The Soil Factory Network: Sustainable Design for the Circular Bionutrient Economy. Cornell Atkinson Center Academic Venture Fund (2021-2023). PI: R Nelson; Co-PIs: J. Lehmann and others. Award amount: $174,043
• Project title: MycoBuilt: Mycelium-bound Bio-composites in Novel Architectural Applications for Circular Construction. Cornell Atkinson Center Academic Venture Fund (2021-2023). Co-PIs: R Nelson, Felix Heisel and others Cornell Atkinson Center Academic Venture Fund.

Previous support

• Resistance and Trade-offs: Using Near-Isogenic Lines to Characterize Maize Disease Resistance Loci. Funded by the Cornell University NY Ag Exp Station Hatch Fund: $105,000.00. 2019-2022
• Support for Collaborative Crop Research Program. Funded by Cornell University McKnight Foundation and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $993,436.00. 8/1/2019 - 7/31/2021. 
• Trial to Establish Casual Linkage Between Mycotoxin Exposure and Child Stunting. Funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $4,995,639.00. 6/21/17 - 4/30/2022. 
• Support for Collaborative Crop Research Program. Funded by the Cornell University McKnight Foundation and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 8/1/2016 - 7/31/2019. 
• NRI: Deep Learning UVAS for High-Throughput Agricultural Disease Phenotyping. Funded by the National Science Foundation: $233,571.00 for Nelson, $1,149,273.00 for team. 8/01/2015 - 7/31/2019. 
• Analysis of the Mechanism and Utility of Increased Pathogen Resistance in Maize Pani Mutants. Funded by the Univ. California San Diego, AFRI-Foundation Program: $83,835.00. 2/1/15 - 1/31/19. 
• GEPR: Genetic and histological dissection of phenotypic variation in quantitative resistance to maize diseases. Funded by NSF-PGRP, OSP# 64014: $600,000 for Nelson; with Wisser et al. 11/14/2011-11/13/2016.
• Cornell University Start-Up Funds. Funded by Cornell University: $250,000.00. 8/1/2011 - 7/31/2016. 
• Support for Collaborative Crop Research Program. Funded by Cornell University McKnight Foundation and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: $2,500,000.00. 8/1/2011 - 7/31/2016. 
• Defining the mechanisms of quantitative disease resistance loci in maize. Funded by the Cornell University NY Ag Exp Station Hatch Fund: $60,000.00. 10/01/11 - 9/30/14. 
• Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeships (IGERT): Food Systems and Poverty Reduction. Funded by NSF:  $3,194,094 for team (with Barrett et al.). 7/01/09 - 6/30/14. 
• Stories of crop evolution, biodiversity and domestication and methods of genomic assisted crop improvement for curricula development. Funded by USDA-AFRI 1890 Capacity: $45,000 for Nelson (with Mazourek et al.). 9/01/2010 - 8/31/2013. 
• Capacity and Action for Aflatoxin Reduction in Eastern Africa: Establishing a Regional Mycotoxin Analytical Platform and its Application in Reducing Aflatoxin Contamination of Kenyan and Tanzanian Maize. Funded by the Government of Australia: $75,150 for Nelson and Milgroom contributions (sub-contractor with Harvey et al.; grant awarded to Biosciences east and central Africa). 2011-2013. 

Courses Taught

GDEV 3900: Circular Studio: On-Campus Circular Solutions

The Circular Studio is a course in which small teams of students explore ways to enhance the circularity of the Cornell campus and/or the surrounding community. The principles of circular economy include designing out waste, keeping materials in use at their highest value, and regenerating nature. A shift from a linear to a circular economy aims to benefit people and the planet by stewarding finite resources, reducing waste, and avoiding pollution through restorative social and technical processes. The core of the course involves project work oriented to making change; this is complemented by field trips to different parts of campus and sites in and around Ithaca and group discussions on aspects of the circular economy.

IARD/DSOC 1100: Perspectives in International Agriculture and Rural Development

Co-taught with Sarah Giroux

The course will enable students to understand the significant issues in international agriculture and rural development. We review global challenges and opportunities related to poverty and hunger from various perspectives, and consider alternative strategies for improving the productivity and sustainability of agricultural systems, and reducing poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. The course includes lectures that give a broad overview of each topic, accompanied by discussions and readings on selected issues. The class is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of any one of these topics; instead, it provides a sample of perspectives. For most of the topics we cover, there are semester-long classes, internships, job opportunities, and more at Cornell. If you want advice or information on how to follow up, please ask us. To acquire more in-depth knowledge of a place and topic(s) of interest, each student will pick a focus issue for their poster and paper assignments (see below for more; each assignment will be discussed further in class). Students will select their focus issue and work both with peers and on their own throughout the semester to explore their topic.

VTPMD_6121: Food Systems and Health 

Co-taught with Katie Fiorella

Students will explore the complex interconnections of food systems and public health needs and learn from interdisciplinary experts and professionals in the fields of local and international public health, economics, sociology, and environment.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to connections between food systems and health. The course uses concepts, theories and methods from multiple disciplines. In addition, this course will provide those students in the Food Systems & Health concentration of the MPH program with a common base knowledge. Much of the material will push many students well outside their comfort zone; this is to be expected, indeed embraced. By familiarizing students with the basic concepts and terms in disciplines with which they will likely need to interact, the course will help students find the connections among the concepts, methods and themes of the various disciplines engaged in the study of food systems, poverty reduction, and public health. Given this orientation, most classes are instructor-led, but typically with substantial student engagement in discussion of key readings and identification of key research topics sparked by readings and concepts.