Graduate Students

Graduate Students

PSLA Graduate Students

Meet our graduate students!

Please visit our Landscape Architecture Graduate Students page to meet our LARC & LACP students. 

Graduate Students            Contact Information Program Research Focus
Photo of Innocent Byiringiro

Innocent Byiringiro

ibyiring@umd.edu

Qi Lab

 

 

PLSC
  • Plant genome engineering
  • Metabolic pathways engineering
Bhavit Chhabra

Bhavit Chhabra

bchhabra@umd.edu

Rawat Lab

 

PLSC
  • My research focuses on improving the genetic resistance of Wheat against fungal diseases. 
Photo of Joshua Clem

Joshua Clem

jclem@umd.edu

Qi Lab

 

PLSC
  • Plant genome engineering
  • DNA repair
  • CRISPR/Cas systems
Jenny Freebery

Jennifer Freebery

jfreeber@umd.edu

AEED
  • Protecting grassland birds in agricultural fields in Maryland  
Portrait of Adam Hopper, Ph.D student

Adam Hopper

ahopper@umd.edu

Micallef Lab

PLSC
  • Metabolomics of crop surfaces influence on plant-microbe associations
  • Reduction of enteric pathogen colonization on crop surfaces using a metabolomics approach 
  • Examination of physiological and morphological traits that drive enteric pathogen attachment/colonization
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Lillyanna House

lhouse@terpmail.umd.edu 

 

PLSC  

Claire Hudson

clhudson@umd.edu 

Micallef Lab

PLSC
  • Exploration of the role of endophytic microorganisms and plant defenses against pathogenic bacteria
    • Influence of plant associated microbiota on plant exometabolome and the metabolome of the host 
    • Abiotic and biotic elicitation of antimicrobial secondary metabolites in leafy greens as a means to improve food safety.
    • Abiotic elicitation and the impact on shelf life and microbiome shifts in leafy greens.
  • Internalization of enteric pathogens on leafy greens in response to factors such as changes in environmental conditions, metabolome and microbiome.
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Xueying Jiang

xj98@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
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Emily Johnson

emilykj@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
Anmol Kajla

Anmol Kajla

akajla97@umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

PLSC  
Photo of Diksha Klair

Diksha Klair

diksha@umd.edu

Micallef Lab

PLSC
  • Investigation of the Influence of PGPR on plant metabolome under abiotic stresses.
  • Enteric pathogen-plant interactions influencing transcriptomic and metabolomic profile of plant.
Joseph Lagner

Joseph Lagner

jlagner@umd.edu

Qi Lab

PLSC
  • Application of CRISPR-based disease detection.
Bruce Levine

Bruce Levine

levinebj@umd.edu

PLSC
  • CRISPR gene editing of fungi.
  • Exploration of effector proteins and other virulence factors in the chestnut blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica
  • Host-pathogen interaction between Cryphonectria parasitica and chestnut.
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Janelle Livesay

jlivesay@umd.edu

Rawat Lab

PLSC
  • Evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of Ascaroside treatments as a prophylaxis against Fusarium graminearum infection in wheat.
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Hongjin Lu

lhj817@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
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Samaila Mamman

smamman@g.umd.edu

AEED  
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Gracie Mason

gracies@g.umd.edu

AEED  
Photo of Md Shipon Miah

Md Shipon Miah

shipon@umd.edu

Farcuh Lab

PLSC
  • Fruit Quality, Ripening and Postharvest Physiology
  • Fruit Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Ian Moot

Ian Moot

imoot@g.umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

PLSC
  • Positional cloning and transformation of a broad-spectrum leaf rust resistance gene in wheat
  • Discovering abiotic stress resistance genes in diploid wheat using GWAS
Arielis Morales-Salva

Arielis Morales-Salva

amoral13@umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

 

 
  • Wheat Genetics
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Jennifer Morash

jmorash@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
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Erin Myers

emyers8@umd.edu

Fiorellino Lab

PLSC
  • Researching how planting date and depth impact the yield of hemp varieties in Maryland to supply growers with specific recommendations.
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Miracle Omoregbee

osazeemi@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
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Boyoung Park

bpark513@g.umd.edu

Kweon Lab

PLSC  
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Carl Paulson

cpaulso1@umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

PLSC
  • Wheat genetics

  • Wheat transformation

Cara Peterson

Cara Peterson

cmpeters@umd.edu

Tully Lab

PLSC
  • Testing methods of integrating cover crops into no-till grain production
  • Investigating the effect of mechanical and chemical cover crop termination methods on soil moisture
  • Evaluating the ability of a soil-water-crop-atmosphere model to predict soil moisture dynamics under a cover crop residue
Anshul Rana

Anshul Rana

arana1@g.umd.edu

PLSC
  • Understanding the association between weed-originated Colletotrichum nymphaeae and strawberry anthracnose
  • Determining microbiome seasonality in strawberries and nearby weeds
  • Understanding the impact of herbicide applications on the change of disease inoculum levels
    Also, please find my picture attached.
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Jacqueline Repp

jrepp@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
Photo of Shannon Rotella

Shannon Rotella

srotella@umd.edu

Hu Lab

PLSC
  • Determination of the frequency of fungicide resistance in grape downy mildew.
  • Identification and distribution of grape downy mildew cryptic species in Mid Atlantic vineyards.
  • Understanding the effect of shoot thinning and leaf pulling practices on disease prevalence in Mid Atlantic vineyards.
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Levin Sarver

lsarver@g.umd.edu

AEED  
Adam Schoen

Adam Schoen

awschoen@terpmail.umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

PLSC
  • Development of a pipeline for efficient gene discovery of agronomically important traits in hexaploid bread wheat using diploid wheat species as a model.
  • Reestablishing the University of Maryland's small grain breeding program using new technologies and speed breeding techniques in order to introduce new elite cultivars to growers.
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Meg Smolinski

msmolins@umd.edu

AEED  
Photo of Nate Spicer

Nate Spicer

nspicer@umd.edu

Tully Lab

PLSC
  • Evaluating the impacts of sea level rise on carbon and nitrogen cycling in agricultural fields and forests on the Eastern Shore.
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Haylee Staruk

haylee@g.umd.edu

AEED  
Yvette Tamukong

Yvette Tamukong

tyb@terpmail.umd.edu

Culver Lab

PLSC
  • Identification of active plum pox virus (PPV) variants during leaf and bud development of plum trees (Prunus domestica L.).
  • Investigating the role of roots and buds in the seasonal maintenance of PPV variants.
  • Examining host gene alterations in roots and buds and the impact on PPV maintenance during dormancy.
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Uday Kumar Thera

uthera@umd.edu

 

PLSC  
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Louis Thorne

lthorne@umd.edu

Fiorellino Lab

PLSC
  • Phytoremediation in soils with high phosphorus
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Sydney Wallace

swallac1@g.umd.edu

PLSC  
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Yuwei Xiao

ywxiao93@terpmail.umd.edu

Liu Lab

PLSC
  • Fruit development through two different plant systems: wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca) and Arabidopsis thaliana.
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Inderjit Yadav

isyadav@g.umd.edu

Tiwari Lab

PLSC  
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Minting Zeng

mintingz@g.umd.edu

PLSC