For her project Maggie is counting spores under the microscope. Manjari taught her how to calculate spore concentrations based on the hemocytometer counts.
For her project Maggie is counting spores under the microscope. Manjari taught her how to calculate spore concentrations based on the hemocytometer counts.
Undergraduate researcher Maggie Marlino at work crafting a rack and columns for experimentation with soilborne inoculum.
I recently started research focusing on citrus greening and inoculum density. In the left picture, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas), the presumed causal agent of citrus greening, was first detected 6 years ago. The right picture shows a more recent infection first detected in 2020. The damage from a long-term infection is apparent between the two pictures where there are fewer leaves and the difference in the color of the leaves.
I went to the Citrus Center in Weslaco, Texas, to set up data loggers and collect samples. Data loggers will be used to record soil and canopy temperatures. The data from these loggers will be interesting as they were set in place shortly before Winter Storm Uri, which is likely to have affected citrus trees.
Manjari and Jensen counting cotton fleahopper nymphs collected daily from woolly croton as a part of a phenology study.
About Me
I am a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate studying at Texas A&M University. I graduated from Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC, in 2015 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences, minoring in Environmental Science. Prior to beginning my graduate career, I worked for Bayer Crop Science in the Soybean Pathology Lab.
I am studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of inoculum in two plant pathosystems: Fusarium wilt of cotton (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum) and citrus Huanglongbing (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus). Specifically, my research focuses on quantifying inoculum density and modeling the movement of inoculum through space and time. Other research has focused on developing and utilizing novel methods for analyzing low altitude remote sensing data and modeling the epidemiology of grapevine virus.
In addition to my research, I have taken part in many extracurricular activities. I served on the Texas A&M Plant Breeding Symposium planning committee for the 2019 and 2020 symposia, serving as the committee chair for 2020. I have also served as a senator to the Graduate and Professional Student Government, as the Poster Sessions Coordinator for the 2019 Student Research Week, and as the president of the Plant Pathology and Microbiology Graduate Student Club.
Publications
Davis II, R. D., Greene, J. K., Dou, F., Jo, Y. K., and Chappell, T. M. 2020. A practical application of unsupervised learning for analyzing plant image data collected using unmanned aircraft systems. Agronomy. doi: 10.3390/agronomy10050633
Conference Proceedings
Davis II, R., Isakeit, T., and Chappell, T. M. 2021. Design and Implementation of a Robust Metric to Quantify Soilborne Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum Race 4 Inoculum Density. Cotton Beltwide Conferences.
Davis II, R. D. and Chappell, T. M. 2020. A robust metric for the environmental quantification of Fusarium oxsyporum f. sp. vasinfectum race 4. Cotton Beltwide Conferences. Austin, TX.
Davis II, R. D., Jo, Y. K., and Chappell, T. M. 2019. Unsupervised learning for efficient detection of plant disease through low altitude remote sensing. American Phytopathology Society. Cleveland, OH.
Davis II, R. D., Jo, Y. K., and Chappell, T. M. 2019. Efficient utilization of low altitude remote sensing technology for crop phenotype estimation. Emerging Researcher National Conference. Washington, D. C.