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Postdocs
Daniel Henk 
(2005-2007, USDA-ARS)

Senior Lecturer

Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath U.K.

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Maj Padamsee 
(2008-2010, LSU)

Research Scientist

Landcare Research

Auckland 1142, New Zealand

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Merje Toome-Heller
(2010-2014, LSU & Purdue)

Principal Scientist

Mycology & Bacteriology, Plant Health & Environment Laboratory, Ministry for Primary Industries St Johns, Auckland 1072,

New Zealand

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Alistair McTaggart
(2011, LSU)

Co-Founder

Psymbiotika Lab

Brisbane, Australia

Jordan Bailey
(2013-2015)

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Leader

Plant Pathology Curation

New South Wales Department of Primary Indistries

Australia

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Andrew Wilson
(2013-2014)

Associate Curator of Mycology

Denver Botanic Gardens

Denver, Colorado

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Amnat Eamvijarn
(2016-2017)

Researcher

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives

Bangkok, Thailand

 

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Mehrdad Abbasi
 

 

(2014-2016) 

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Retired

 

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Hector Urbina
(2016-2018)

 

Research Scientist

Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services-Division of Plant Industry

Gainesville, FL

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Rachel A. Koch

(2017-2019)

 

Research Plant Pathologist

USDA-ARS-NEA

Foreign Disease Weed Science Research Unit

Ft. Dietrick, MD

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Luis Ramirez Camejo
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(2018-2020)

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Researcher

Centro de Biodiversidad y 

Descubrimiento de Drogas

INDICASAT-AIP, Panama

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Danny Haelewaters

(2018-2020)

 

Lab Head​

Laboratory of Fungal Ecology and Evolution

University of South Bohemia

Czech Republic

 

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Patty Kaishian

(2020-2021)

 

Curator of Mycology

New York State Museum

Albany, NY

 

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Jeff Stallman

(2024-2025)

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Fungus Conservation Coordinator

Indianapolis Zoo

Indianapolis, IN

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(2022-2023)

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Postdoc​

Department of Forestry Mycology

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Uppsala, Sweden

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Paula Gomez Zapata
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Daniel Raudabaugh 

Lead Research Scientist (2022-2025)

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Assistant Professor

University of Central Oklahoma

Edmond, OK

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Graduate Students
Tomas Rush
(M.S. 2012, LSU)

R&D Staff Scientist

Bioscience Division

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge, TN

 

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Andrew Rodriguez
(M.S. 2011, LSU)

Assistant Professor

University of Texas, San Antonio

San Antonio, TX

 

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Sebastian Albu
(M.S. 2012, LSU)

Senior Plant Pathologist

California Department of Food and Agriculture

Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services - Plant Pest Diagnostics Lab

Sacramento, CA

 

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Donald Nelsen
(M.S. 2013, LSU)

Technical Applications Scientist

Azenta Life Sciences

Burlington, MA

Rachel A. Koch

(PhD 2017)

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Research Plant Pathologist

USDA-ARS-NEA

Foreign Disease Weed Science Research Unit

Ft. Dietrick, MD

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Teeratas Kijpornyongpan

(PhD 2019)

 

Researcher

Bangkok, Thailand

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Jorge Diaz Valderrama

(PhD 2019)

 

Associate Professor & Head, Plant Health Research Laboratory

National University Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza
Chachapoyas, Peru

 

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Fanni Lakatos

(M.S. 2019)

 

Forensic Scientist I

Utah Bureau of Forensic Services Utah Dept. of Public Safety 

Salt Lake City, UT

 

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Pedro Pablo Parra Giraldo

(PhD 2019)​

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Manager & Deputy Director

European Union Reference Laboratory for Plant Pathogenic fungi and Oomycetes

Nancy, France

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Blaise Jumbam

(Ph.D. 2022)

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Research Scientist

Montana State University

Bozeman, MT

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Dillon Husbands

(Ph.D. 2022)

 

Dean

Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry

University of Guyana

Georgetown, Guyana

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(Ph.D. 2022)

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Postdoc​

Department of Forestry Mycology

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Uppsala, Sweden

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Paula Gomez Zapata
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Samira Fatemi

(Ph.D. 2023)

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Postdoctoral Fellow

Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council

Hilo, HI

Jeff Stallman

​(Ph.D. 2024)

 

Fungus Conservation Coordinator

Indianapolis Zoo

Indianapolis, IN

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Kathryn Maley

(Ph.D. 2025)

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Postdoctoral scholar

Dept. Botany & Plant Pathology

Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN

 

Visiting Scientists, Interns, & Research Assistants
Allison Walker

Visiting Scientist

(2004-2005, USDA-ARS)
Robert Bills

Lab Assistant (2006-2007, USDA)

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Clare Whittaker

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Visiting Intern (2006, USDA and 2008, LSU)

 

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Amnat Eamvijarn 

Visiting intern (2008, LSU)

Game Boonyuen

Visiting intern (2010, LSU)

Raman Kaur
 

 

Lab Manager (2008-2013)

Gregory Heller
 

Lab technician (2010-2011, LSU)

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John F. Klimek
 

Lab technician (2013-2018)

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Esperanza Torres Rojas
 

Visiting Professor (2013-2014)

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Aamna Ishaq
 

Visiting intern (2015-2016)

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Marlon Rodriguez

Visiting intern (2016)

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Paula Gomez Zapata
 

Intern (2016)

Marian Kirchberg

Visiting Graduate Student (2016)

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Elena Karlsen-Ayala
 

Lab Manager (2016-2018)

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Nikolai Lutas

Visiting Scholar (2018)

 

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Stephen Russell

Ph.D. student (2016-2020)

 

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Lucia Molina

Visiting Scholar (2018, and 2026)

 

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Thijs Montalvo

Visiting Scholar (2019)

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Muhammad Ali

Visiting Scholar (2019-2020)

 

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Sarah Verhaeghen

Assistant, North American Mycoflora Project 2019-2020

 

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Ashley Newton

Visiting Scholar (2020)

 

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Bryce Westman

Collections Manager (2019-2022)

 

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Christopher Layug

Research assistant (2020-2022)

 

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Ariana Moffit

Research assistant (2020-2024)

 

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Lucy Jingyu Liu

Lab Manager (2020-2026)

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Sana Mohammad

Rotating Ph.D. Student 2021-2022

 

Email: mohamm69@purdue.edu

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Cristhian Ruiz

Visiting intern (2021-2023)

 

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Helen Law

Ph.D. Student (2022-2023)

 

 

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Karol Brighton Rubio Rojas

Visiting Intern (2023)

 

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Ingrid Milagros Iliquin Inga

Visiting Intern (2023)

 

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Carlos A. Lopez Manzano

Visiting Scholar (2023)

 

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Tomohiro Suzuki

Visiting professor (2024-2025)

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Tzu-Fang Chang

Rotating ​Ph.D. Student (2025)

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Ana Sofia Perez Lopez

Visiting Scholar (2025)

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Sonia Jezierski

Visiting Intern (2026)

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Angela Maria Ossorio Trochez

Visiting Scholar (2025)

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Nombuso Ngubane

Visiting postdoctoral scholar (2026)

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