Plant Pathology and Microbiology

Masters Program: Plant Pathology

Undergraduate degree: Plant and Environmental Protection.  University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia 2006.

What is your career ambition?  To work in extension and to help farmers overcome their daily concerns about fungal and bacterial diseases.

What is the biggest adjustment you had to make coming to Iowa State?  The biggest adjustment was, of course, to totally switch to speaking a different language, one that is not even similar to my native language.  Also, the Iowa winters are very different from back home.

What do you do for fun?  One of my favorite things to do is swimming at the Beyer Hall pool.  I do it every time I get the chance.  Other fun stuff I like doing is having coffee with friends at Stomping Grounds (especially during summer).  Also, there are a couple of nice restaurants here that are able to fill out my expectations as far as food is concerned.

Why did you choose Iowa State?  I met my current advisor back in my home country.  That meeting resulted in my coming as an intern to Iowa State in 2004, when I got the chance to meet many professors and talk to them about research and the possibilities to learn.  Since I liked the opportunities offered, I decided to apply to Iowa State University.

What have you learned about yourself since you have been at Iowa State?  The most valuable thing I have learned here is to be independent and responsible. Of course I acquired the "skill" to manage money a little bit better too.

What research are you currently doing?  The first part of my  research focuses on increasing the sustainability of fruit and vegetable farms in the United States by making Integrated Pest Management (IPM) decision-support tools more grower-friendly.  We are trying to accomplish this goal by showing that site specific weather estimation technology offers cheaper and safer ways to operate disease and pest warning systems.  The second part of my research focuses on the morphological studies of Sooty Blotch and Flyspeck fungi, genus Pseudocercosporella spp. in particular.