Dr. Cristina Rosa, Asst. Prof. of Plant Virology, introduces her new lab members and highlights recent lab accomplishments.
(L-R): Dr. Cristina Rosa, Natali Özber, Asifa Hameed, Andrew May, Kevin Cassidy, Kaixi Zhao, Dr. Paolo Margaria, and Joseph Walls.
New Lab Members
- Natali Özber, Plant Biology Ph.D. student. Natali will help to identify some of the plant proteins necessary to sustain viral movement during plant infection.
- Asifa Hameed, Entomology Ph.D. student. Asifa is supervised by Entomology Professor and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Coordinator Dr. Ed Rajotte.
Recent or Upcoming Activities
Kevin Cassidy, Biology undergraduate
- Participating as founding member of Blooms and Shrooms;
- Sequencing the genome of a Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) isolate from Pennsylvania and comparing its molecular and biological features to a reference CMV isolate;
- Actively participating in department outreach;
- Looking forward to graduating in Fall 2016 and applying to graduate school.
Dr. Paolo Margaria, Postdoctoral Scholar
- Developing and delivering lectures for Dr. Rosa's PPEM 416 course;
- Presenting seminars to Virology@PSU and to Blooms and Shrooms;
- Being selected for Penn State's Postdoc Visitation Program;
- Winning a Penn State Upward Bound Math and Science Program scholarship to host in the lab underrepresented high school students for the project "It's invisible but is there: detection and sequencing of a plant virus";
- 2016 Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society Award recipient for excellence in research and service;
- Attending the XVII International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (IS-MPMI) meeting in Oregon in July to present his work on the Ourmia Melon Virus movement protein and on the characterization of viral populations in the genus Tospovirus.
Andrew May, Biological Engineering undergraduate
- Joined the lab in February 2016;
- Participating as founding member of Blooms and Shrooms;
- Learning fundamental techniques in molecular biology;
- Working on the characterization of Tomato spotted wilt virus isolates causing atypical symptoms in Nicotiana tabacum;
- Actively participating in department outreach.
Dr. Cristina Rosa, Assistant Professor
- USAID Grant-Sponsored Research Program in Southeast Asia;
- Helping to establish the Phytobiome Initiative;
- Teaching PPEM 416;
- Hosting Dr. Anna Whitfield.
Joseph Walls, Ph.D. student
- Went to Costa Rica with the International Agricultural Development Seminar (INTAD 820) course (See PHOTOS) where he visited CATIE and EARTH universities and multiple banana, coffee, and cacao plantations;
- Received the Henry W. Popp Award;
- Received the Herbert Cole Jr. Fund for Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology endowed award;
- Currently determining how to optimally infect tomato plants with Tomato spotted wilt virus so that he can study the effects of climate change on the virus's evolution and plant-defense responses.
Kaixi Zhao, Ph.D candidate
- Preparing a thesis proposal outline focused on mixed infection of two Tospoviruses;
- Volunteered in the 2016 PA farm show and helped the mushroom section;
- Received The L. Earl and Veronica Casida Graduate Scholarship in Plant Pathology;
- Will give a talk to Virology@PSU in May;
- Will participate this summer in a Penn State Upward Bound Math and Science Program and co-mentor underrepresented high school students with Dr. Paolo Margaria.
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