Faculty, professional staff and graduate students from the Department of Plant Pathology attended the North Central Division meeting of the American Phytopathological Society, held at Iowa State University, Ames, June 21-23. The three-day meeting consisted of workshops, symposia and a full day of student presentations, all addressing the theme of the event, “Meeting the Challenges of Global Food and Energy Production.”

Achala Nepal, a student studying under the direction of associate professor Luis del Rio, won first place in the graduate student oral presentation competition with her research titled “Effect of Sclerotial Moisture Content on Carpogenic Germination of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum.”

Aakansha Gambhir won second place in the graduate student poster competition with the presentation, “Evaluation of Aggressiveness and Host Range of Fusarium Acuminatum and Fusarium Redolens Associated With Root Rot of Dry Beans.” Her research is directed by Rubella Goswami, assistant professor.

Graduate student travel awards also were presented to Nepal, Kholoud Alananbeh (advised by professor Neil Gudmestad), and Krishna Puri (advised by assistant professor Shaobin Zhong).