people examining rice plants

Graduate Field Faculty: PPPMB

Faculty programs in Plant-Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology are advancing our understanding of plant pathogens and their control

Graduate Fields are composed of faculty members with research interests related to the field of study. Most members of a given Graduate Field are faculty in the corresponding SIPS Section, but some have appointments within other SIPS Sections, other departments at Cornell, or are affiliated with USDA or the Boyce Thompson Institute.

Field faculty by concentration

Graduate Fields at Cornell bring together faculty from different academic units. Faculty serving the graduate program in PPPMB include most of the Section faculty as well as faculty from additional academic units such as Plant Biology, Microbiology, International Programs, and others, whose research involves PPPMB. Any of these individuals can serve as Special Committee Chair for a Graduate student in the program. 

Faculty affiliated with the Field of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology are listed below by program concentration.

** Indicates faculty who are no longer serving as Special Committee Chairs for a new students.

  • Maricelis Acevedo
  • Adam Bogdanove
  • Kathryn Bushley
  • Lance Cadle-Davidson
  • Kerik Cox
  • Marc Fuchs
  • Michelle Heck
  • Kathie Hodge
  • Awais Khan
  • Magdalen Lindeberg
  • Gregory Martin
  • Rebecca Nelson
  • Teresa Pawlowska
  • Sarah Pethybridge
  • Christine Smart
  • Bryan Swingle
  • Xiaohong Wang

Graduate Fields at Cornell bring together faculty from different academic units. Faculty serving the graduate program in PPPMB include most of the Section faculty as well as faculty from additional academic units such as Plant Biology, Microbiology, International Programs, and others, whose research involves PPPMB. Any of these individuals can serve as Special Committee Chair for a Graduate student in the program. 

Faculty affiliated with the Field of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology are listed below by program concentration.

** Indicates faculty who are no longer serving as Special Committee Chairs for a new students.

  • Adam Bogdanove
  • Kathryn Bushley
  • Lance Cadle-Davidson
  • Zhangjun Fei
  • Melanie Filiatrault
  • Marc Fuchs
  • Maria Harrison
  • Michelle Heck
  • Kathie Hodge
  • Jian Hua
  • Lori Huberman 
  • Awais Khan
  • Gregory Martin
  • Rebecca Nelson
  • Teresa Pawlowska
  • Jocelyn K. C. Rose
  • Christine Smart
  • Bryan Swingle
  • Gillian Turgeon**
  • Xiaohong Wang

Graduate Fields at Cornell bring together faculty from different academic units. Faculty serving the graduate program in PPPMB include most of the Section faculty as well as faculty from additional academic units such as Plant Biology, Microbiology, International Programs, and others, whose research involves PPPMB. Any of these individuals can serve as Special Committee Chair for a Graduate student in the program. 

Faculty affiliated with the Field of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology are listed below by program concentration.

** Indicates faculty who are no longer serving as Special Committee Chairs for a new students.

  • Maricelis Acevedo
  • Kathryn Bushley
  • Kerik Cox
  • Lance Cadle-Davidson
  • Maria Harrison
  • Kathie Hodge
  • Lori Huberman 
  • Rebecca Nelson
  • Teresa Pawlowska
  • Sarah Pethybridge
  • Christine Smart
  • Gillian Turgeon**
Maricelis Acevedo
Maricelis Acevedo

International Research Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Maricelis Acevedo
Photo of Kathryn Bushley
Kathryn Bushley

Courtesy Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology

Kathryn Bushley
  • Kathryn.Bushley [at] usda.gov
Microbial ecology of emerald ash borer and other invasive woodboring insects
Nematophagous fungi for biocontrol of cyst nematodes
Host-Microbe interactions, endophytic fungi, and secondary metabolism and chemical ecology of fungi
Adam Bogdanove
Adam Bogdanove

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Adam Bogdanove
Bacterial blight and bacterial leaf streak of rice
Transcription activator-like (TAL) effector proteins
Genome editing and custom gene regulation
A mans smiles in front of a brick wall
Lance Cadle-Davidson

Adjunct Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

Lance Cadle-Davidson
Sustainable management of grapevine fungal and oomycete diseases
Host-pathogen co-evolution and disease resistance
Enhanced breeding using genomic tools
Clare Casteel
Clare Casteel

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Clare Casteel
  • clc269 [at] cornell.edu
Plant-virus-vector and plant-insect interactions
Molecular & chemical ecology and soil microbiomes
Healthy agroecosystems, climate resilience and organic farming
A man stands smiling in a fruit orchard
Kerik Cox

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

Kerik Cox
Orchard fungal ecology
Fungicide resistance
Pesticide stewardship, fruit pathology
Zhangjun Fei
Zhangjun Fei

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Zhangjun Fei
  • zf25 [at] cornell.edu
Computational analysis of large datasets
Modeling regulatory networks
Melanie Filiatrault
Melanie Filiatrault

Courtesy Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Melanie Filiatrault
  • mjf66 [at] cornell.edu
Bacterial plant pathogens
Small non-coding RNAs and RNA binding proteins
Pseudomonas syringae
A man in the greenhouse examines grape plants
Marc Fuchs

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

Marc Fuchs
Virus diseases of fruit and vegetable crops
Grape viruses
Plant virus-insect vector interactions
David Gadoury
David Gadoury

Senior Research Associate (retired)

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

David Gadoury
Diseases of grapevine, apple, and strawberry
Powdery mildew
Downy mildew
Maria Harrison
Maria Harrison

Adjunct Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Maria Harrison
Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis
Phosphate acquisition
Michelle Heck
Michelle Heck

Adjunct Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Michelle Heck
  • mlc68 [at] cornell.edu
Molecular interactions among plant pathogens, insect vectors, and plant hosts
Jian Hua
Jian Hua

Plant Biology Section Head and Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Jian Hua
Environmental responses; Adaptation; temperature; immunity; plants
Lori Huberman
Lori Huberman

Assistant Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Lori Huberman
  • huberman [at] cornell.edu
How fungi interact with the environment
Nutrient sensing in filamentous fungi
High-throughput functional genomics
Man examining an apple tree
Awais Khan

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

Awais Khan
Mechanisms of host disease resistance in apples; particularly to fire blight and apple scab
Quantitative genetics, genomics, genetic diversity, and pre-breeding
Rapid disease detection, pathogen identification, and high-throughput phenotyping tools
Magdalen Lindeberg headshot
Magdalen Lindeberg

Assistant Director

School of Integrative Plant Science

Magdalen Lindeberg
Gregory Martin
Gregory Martin

Professor Emeritus

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Gregory Martin
Molecular mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis
Molecular basis of plant immunity
Rebecca Nelson
Rebecca Nelson

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Professor

Department of Global Development

Rebecca Nelson
Circular bionutrient economy and enhancing wellbeing in peri-urban areas through waste valorization
Agroecology and supporting student leadership toward sustainability
Participatory research and extension
Teresa E. Pawlowska
Teresa Pawlowska

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Teresa Pawlowska
Evolutionary and population genomics
Innate immunity in fungi and fungal-bacterial interactions
Arbuscular mycorrhizae
sarah pethybridge head shot
Sarah Pethybridge

Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Cornell AgriTech

Sarah Pethybridge
Diseases of vegetables
Sclerotinia
Epidemiology and fungicide resistance
jocelyn rose
Jocelyn Rose

Director

School of Integrative Plant Science

Barbara McClintock Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Biology Section

Jocelyn Rose
Plant structural polymers, cell wall structure and function
Cuticles and plant surfaces
Fruit biology
Chris Smart
Christine Smart

Goichman Family Director

Cornell AgriTech

Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Christine Smart
Biology and management of vegetable diseases
Host-pathogen interactions
bryan swingle
Bryan Swingle

Courtesy Associate Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Bryan Swingle
  • bms45 [at] cornell.edu
Regulation of bacterial stress tolerance
Genetic recombination
Pseudomonas syringae
Barbara Gillian Turgeon
B. Gillian Turgeon

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section Head and Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

B. Gillian Turgeon
Fungal pathogens of cereals
Fungal genomics
Secondary metabolites
Xiaohong Wang
Xiaohong Wang

Courtesy Professor

School of Integrative Plant Science

Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section

Xiaohong Wang
Plant-nematode interactions
Potato cyst nematodes
Nematode effector function
a man with a blue checkered shirt and gray hair stands in front of a gray wall
Stephen Winans

Professor

Microbiology

Stephen Winans
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