Crandall Lab – Current Research Projects / Awards
We’ve been awarded the USDA NIFA ORG Organic Transitions grant to research the efficacy of sustainable methods to suppress soilborne pathogens in vegetable high tunnel systems. We are investigating both the assembly of soil microbial communities post-soil steaming disinfection and anaerobic soil disinfection to understand the recovery of the soil post-disturbance and need for amendments. We also work closely with farmers to identify barriers for adoption of innovative practices. (Crandall Lab – lead, Testen, Kantor, Windon). Here is the press release.
We received a USDA NIFA AFRI Agricultural Microbiomes grant to study the role of the spermosphere of seed germination and establishment in close collaboration with Auburn University (Noel Lab – lead). Here is the press release.
We have a new, exciting Cooperative Agreement grant with the USDA-ARS in Salinas, CA to to measure the dispersal of the soilborne pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. fragariae, the causal agent of one of the most deadly diseases of strawberry. (Crandall/Henry/Leblanc)
The NASA-ROSES grant was awarded to Cornell (Gold/Mahowald), Penn State (Crandall) and the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (Palvick) for modeling global aerial soilborne pathogen dispersal & traits, check out the press release and video.
Intercontinental dust storms & modeling soilborne pathogen dispersal
Scanning electron microscope image of fungal spore traits – S.G. Crandall
2024 Student Features/Awards & Honors
Congratulations to Jamie Spychalla for winning the Qiagen internship award through the One Health Microbiome Center at The Pennsylvania State University. This is a highly competitive award that will allow her to spend some time developing molecular protocols to optimize DNA/RNA extractions for microbiome/metagenomics research this summer. Our lab is stoked for you to participate in this awesome bio-tech internship program!
Congratulations to Theo (Chelsea) Newbold for winning second place for best poster presentation in this year’s Gamma Sigma Delta Honors Society Exposition for the Agricultural Sciences!
Congratulations to our awesome undergraduate assistant Amanda Piecora, who was awarded the PSU College of Agricultural Sciences Undergraduate Student Research Award to conduct a plant-microbial interactions using soy as a model system under the mentorship my post-doctoral scholar Dr. Eric Larson.
2023 Student Features/Awards & Honors
Graduate student Deivis Garay-Salas was awarded a grant from the PA Wine Marketing & Research Board to investigate the effect of biocontrols on mildew pathogens of grape!
Yes! Theo (Chelsea) Newbold was awarded theFFAR fellowship to work on sustainable management of maize. Here is the press release.
2022 Student Features/Awards & Honors
So exciting: My doctoral student Jamie Spychalla won theNSF-GRFP award for her work on sour rot grape ecology and management in the Plant Pathology category. Way to go Jamie! Here is the press release.
So proud of Theo (Chelsea) Newbold for being featured in this recent article that was a Career Feature in the journal Nature. Jamie Spycalla’s sour rot research was also featured in the PSU Morning AgClips.
Join me in congratulating Uma Crouch and Jamie Spychalla for being nominated into the Gamma Sigma Delta Honors Society for the Agricultural Sciences. Chelsea (Theo) Newbold and Usman Ali also won awards for best poster presentations at the Gamma Sigma Delta Poster Expo this year. Jamie Spychalla also won the NSF-GRFP for her work on grape disease!
Way to go lab!
Check out the video below about the Center for Root & Rhizosphere Biology (CRRB) at Penn State. Learn about our research and commitment to improving agriculture.
Center for Root & Rhizosphere Biology; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences
We just published a new TaqMan diagnostics method article for downy mildew of hop and cucurbit in the journal Plant Disease! Feb. 16, 2021
Multi-omics article published as primer for early career scientists to learn more about utilizing ‘omic approaches to address problems in plant disease ecology. September 22, 2020. Link to pdf here
SAFES grant awarded to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the ability of Pennsylvanian farmers to conduct soil health practices. July, 2020. More info here
In other awesome news…
- Flowers Grant awarded to study root rhizosphere microbial ecology together with the Couradeau & Burghart Labs at PSU
- Uma Crouch & Jamie Spychalla joined our lab as new graduate students this past August, welcome!
- We are hiring a Part-time lab manager, click here for more information
- We are hiring a Post-doc to start January 2021 in Soilborne Disease Dynamics, more posted soon
For more information about our lab, check out:
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