Posted: April 10, 2017

Dr. Brian Staskawicz delivered the Richard R. Nelson Memorial Lecture on April 10.

Dr. Brian Staskawicz (L) and Sara Klee (R) | Image: Nancy Wenner, Penn State

Dr. Brian Staskawicz (L) and Sara Klee (R) | Image: Nancy Wenner, Penn State

Annually, the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology (PPEM) graduate students vote to nominate an outside seminar speaker, which brings renowned scientists from across the country to the department. This year was no exception when Dr. Brian Staskawicz, Maxine J. Elliot Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology at U.C. Berkley, accepted the invitation to speak on April 10.

Dr. Staskawicz presented a seminar titled "Genome editing strategies for durable disease resistance in agricultural crops." In addition to being the student-invited speaker, he was honored as this year's Richard R. Nelson Memorial Lectures speaker.

Dr. Staskawicz is well known for his research regarding the molecular and genetic aspects of plant-microbe interactions. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and Fellow of both the American Society for Microbiology and the American Phytopathological Society.