All in the Family: Son of trailblazing white pine blister rust researcher studies fungi as a retiree
Pat Fahey, a UMN Neuroscience retiree and student in Bob Blanchette’s “Diseases of Forest and Shade Trees,” saw a familiar name when the class discussed White pine blister rust. His stepfather, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) employee in the 1930s, had directed a program cataloging white pine blister rust’s prevalence across Minnesota.
Changing microbial communities: how excluding foliar fungi impacts plant growth and soil microbiome
How does removal of fungi impact plant growth and rhizosphere diversity in perennial grasslands? Professor Linda Kinkel, postdoc Brett Lane, and colleagues looked into it.
Professor Ruth Dill-Macky awarded Alumna of the Year at University of Queensland Women's College
Congratulations to Professor Ruth Dill-Macky, who was recently awarded the Alumna of the Year (2025) award at The Women’s College within the University of Queensland in her homeland of Australia.
Potato power: testing potential enhancements to soil microbiome of potato
The diversity of soil microbes around a growing plant can meaningfully impact that plant’s fitness in a number of ways, including nutrient uptake, yield, and disease resistance. Scott Klasek, Linda Kinkel, and colleagues from SWAC and other institutions characterized 1,824 potato soil microbiomes from 456 plots in the eight field sites across the continental USA, surfacing valuable insights on ties between management, microbiome, and yield.
Something fishy about this fungus: exotic underwater fungus reaches the US on aquarium wood
Mysterious black growths on submerged decorative wood from freshwater aquariums in the states of Minnesota and Colorado were revealed to be Xylaria apoda, a fungus not previously reported in the United States.
Ginger in Danger: new bacterial pathogen found on the US mainland
When rotting, wilted ginger was reported to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture by specialty growers in central Minnesota in July 2024, UMN-PLPA researcher Milo Chiu and faculty member Devanshi Khokhani were ready to solve the case.
Recent Alumni: where are they now?
Which recent alum is a crop breeder, and which is a medical writer? What further opportunities in academia and government are PLPA alumni pursuing? Find out!
Cory Hirsch Named Interim Department Head
As of January 1, 2025, Associate Professor Cory Hirsch is serving as the Interim Department Head of Plant Pathology.