Plant Pathology and Microbiology

National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biological Informatics
351 Bessey Hall
Department of Plant Pathology
Ames, IA 50011
515-314-3317
pde@iastate.edu or pesker@ksu.edu

What degree did you receive? MS and Ph.D

When did you graduate?  Spring 2001 (MS); Winter 2005 (PhD)

What was your major? Plant Pathology (MS); Plant Pathology and Statistics (PhD)

Whose lab were you a member of?  Dr. Forrest Nutter

What was your position at the Iowa State University Department of Plant Pathology?  Past: Graduate Research Assistant; Graduate Research Fellow - Current: NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow

How long were you at Iowa State University Department of Plant Pathology?  Since 1998

Where did you go after you left the Iowa State University Department of Plant Pathology?  Still here, but also elsewhere

Where are you now?  Part at Iowa State, part at Kansas State, part at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

What is your position title?  National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Biological Informatics

If doing research, what area?  Quantitative Epidemiology

Tell us a little about the organization you are working for right now:  I am currently funded by the National Science Foundation to conduct research in the area of biological informatics using Asian soybean rust as a model system.  In this work, I am interested in incorporating Landscape and Community Ecology concepts into furthering our understanding of how Asian soybean rust progresses in both space and time

Outside of work what have been up to since you left the Department of Plant Pathology?  In my free time, I enjoy participating in sports, including volleyball, golf, and bicycling.