Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Department of Plant Pathology, Amanda Gevens. Dr. Gevens officially begins her duties on July 1 as the Extension Potato and Vegetable Plant Pathologist. Amanda has prepared the following statement about herself and future plans. She also provides her contact information and welcomes your emails and phone calls. Please take the opportunity to introduce yourself to Amanda when the opportunity presents itself.
Amanda Gevens Joins Plant Pathology
Paul Esker and Amanda Gevens, Plant Pathology
Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Department of Plant Pathology, Amanda Gevens. Dr. Gevens officially begins her duties on July 1 as the Extension Potato and Vegetable Plant Pathologist. Amanda has prepared the following statement about herself and future plans. She also provides her contact information and welcomes your emails and phone calls. Please take the opportunity to introduce yourself to Amanda when the opportunity presents itself.
Statement by Amanda Gevens
I grew up working on a pumpkin and vegetable farm on the eastern end of Long Island, New York. Upon graduating from high school, I attended Muhlenberg College in PA and majored in biology. For three summers during my undergraduate studies, I was employed by Mr. Dale Moyer (potato and vegetable specialist at the time) of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) in Suffolk County, NY. I served as a field scout and research assistant for vegetable crops such as sweet corn, cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes. My experience at CCE-Suffolk was pivotal in directing my academic and career plans for years to follow.
In 1999, I began my graduate studies at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN under Dr. Ralph Nicholson, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. The title of my MS thesis is: The function and composition of conidial extracellular matrix material and an investigation of the interaction of Bipolaris maydis with Sorghum bicolor followed by phytoalexin biosynthesis. After completing my M.S. degree it was my desire to return to field-based, applied plant pathology research.
I joined Dr. Mary Hausbeck’s program in the department of plant pathology at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI in 2002. In 2005, I completed my Ph.D which was entitled: Documenting and characterizing Phytophthora capsici from irrigation water and snap beans in Michigan, and screening for fruit resistance to P. capsici in cucurbits. In Michigan I had many wonderful opportunities to work with many vegetable diseases and interact with extension and industry personnel.
After a short post-doc in the lab of Dr. Mary Hausbeck, I assumed extension and responsibilities in agronomic and vegetable crop pathology at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2007. I have greatly enjoyed my time in Florida working in the areas of pathogen identification, biology, and management. Many of my current collaborations in vegetable research will follow me to Wisconsin.
As the new potato and vegetable extension plant pathologist at UW-Madison, I intend to generate and disseminate disease identification and management information that is timely and important to the potato and vegetable growers and allied industries in the state of Wisconsin. I am excited to become part of an excellent vegetable team and to continue in the successful and big footsteps of Dr. Walt Stevenson.
I am married to Dr. Stephen Jordan, also a plant pathologist, and we have a son, Jack, who may have already gained more exposure to plant pathology than any 2-year-old should!
I am pleased and excited to have been given the opportunity to join the plant pathology department at UW-Madison. I look forward to collaborations and interactions with growers, extension and university faculty, students, and allied agricultural industries in the state of Wisconsin. I will start on July 1, 2009 and welcome your emails, phone calls, and inquiries.
Contact information:
Dr. Amanda J. Gevens
Assistant Prof. & Extension Plant Pathologist
University of Wisconsin
Department of Plant Pathology
1630 Linden Dr., Rm. 689
Madison, WI 53706-3072
Office Phone: 608-890-3072
Fax: 608-263-2626
Email: gevens@wisc.edu