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If you are a graduate student whose major professor is a PSES faculty
member, and you would like your information posted below, please complete
the
Consent Form and email it to
nthompson@uidaho.edu.
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Graduate Student: Laura Ingwell
Degree: Ph.D.
Major: Entomology
Email:
ingw6470@vandals.uidaho.edu
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Title:
Vector responses to virus-induced changes in the host plant: the wheat-Barley
yellow dwarf virus-Rhopalosiphum padi pathosystem
Research:
Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) causes a major disease in cereal crops,
resulting in yield losses up to 70% in individual fields.
BYDV is transmitted by aphids in a persistent circulative manner.
The bird-cherry oat aphid,
Rhopalosiphum padi (BCOA), is the most efficient vector of the
BYDV-PAV serotype. Recent
research working in this pathosystem has found that BYDV-infected wheat
is preferred over non-infected wheat plants by the aphid vector.
This preference may be attributed to changes that plants infected
with virus undergo, such as chlorosis, olfactory or gustatory
perception. BYDV-infected wheat
specifically has been found to emit a volatile blend of virus-induced
compounds that are one of the attractive aspects of virus-infected
plants compared to non-infected plants.
My research is focused on gaining a better understanding of the
dynamic relationships in this pathosystem by examining the behavioral
responses of the aphid vector (BCOA) to BYDV-infected plants in a
variety of laboratory and field experiments.
The implications of this research include improved vector
management to reduce the disease impacts and economic damages associated
with persistently transmitted viruses, the potential for incorporating
virus-induced volatiles into vector manipulation and virus control, and
an overall increase in our understanding of vector ecology and virus
epidemiology. |
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Graduate Student: Sandya Rani Kesoju
Degree: Ph.D.
Major: Plant Science
Email:
keso4900@vandals.uidaho.edu
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Research:
Utilizing a networking algorithm with input data on organism
dispersal properties, remotely sensed data, GIS
topographical data and weather data to predict movement
across actual landscapes.
Creating models, which will in turn be incorporated
into a landscape level strategic planning tool |
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Graduate Student: Ian Leslie
Degree: M.S.
Major: Soil and Land Resources
Email:
lesl4685@vandals.uidaho.edu
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Research:
The use of electrical resistivity
tomography (ERT) to map the distribution of soil pipes in
forest hillslopes.
Soil pipes play a crucial role in hillslope hydrology
as long chains of connected macropores that provide fast
flow pathways for water through the soil.
Soil pipes may form from a number of different
biological and environmental interactions including the
decay and combustion of dead tree roots due to fire in
managed forests.
The research aims to further the conceptual understanding of
the distribution and connectivity of soil pipes which is
needed for accurate predictions of watershed responses to
changes in regional climate, land-use or ecological shifts.
A better understanding of soil pipe distribution will
aid water management in forested ecosystems and will
contribute to watershed scale measurement tools for the
estimation of physical characteristics driving the transient
hydrologic response of soil pipes.
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Graduate Student:
Benjamin Sloniker
Degree: M.S.
Major: Environmental Science
Email:
bsloniker@uidaho.edu
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Research:
Biology of conifer seed orchard pests. Uses of
systematic insecticides in conifer seed orchard systems.
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