Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>As we gear up for NC State\u2019s 2025 Day of Giving<\/a> on March 26, the N.C. PSI is highlighting passion-inspired, donor-fueled staff, students and others behind our plant sciences research, extension and workforce development efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With generous support from donors to the N.C. Plant Sciences initiative, Cochran-Murray is pursuing a Ph.D. under William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist Lina Quesada-Ocampo<\/a> of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phytophthora capsici<\/em> is a soilborne pathogen of vegetables that can survive in surface irrigation water, and I\u2019m looking into molecular diagnostics and fungicide resistance markers in the pathogen population in North Carolina. I do a lot of work with peppers, cucumbers and pumpkins \u2013 and\u00a0 It’s also a problem in watermelon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pathogen starts off making a dark lesion on the fruit surface or at the base of the plant and you\u2019ll start to see this powdered doughnut look. That\u2019s the pathogen growing on the fruit and spoiling it. It ends up just melting the fruit, killing it and the plant so the farmer has nothing left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s one of the most widespread cucurbit diseases, and it also affects other crops, including ornamentals and crops grown in greenhouses because it moves in water systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our idea is if we can rapidly diagnose in the field using a molecular test in a handheld device, we can help farmers determine if and when it\u2019s economical for them to pay for improved water sanitation systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, and extreme weather events, like hurricanes, are making conditions more favorable for these pathogens at the same time we have less land available for agriculture and have to feed a growing population.\u00a0And it\u2019s not just what’s happening in the field while the plants grow, diseases also happen after the crop is collected from the field and put into storage. That also significantly decreases what goes to the table. All of this makes solutions based on plant pathology more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I received the Norma L. Trolinder N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative Graduate Student Endowment<\/a> Award, and under the fellowship you have to pick the path you want to go down and you need to have a mentor. My mom was a teaching assistant and library assistant, and so I have always felt drawn to teaching and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve always been super into true crime, and so as we approached Plant Sciences Outreach Day, I was trying to think of a way to keep the students interested and also teach them something about plant pathology. As plant pathologists, based off limited amounts of evidence, we have to piece together what pathogen caused the disease that\u2019s affecting a farmer\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I designed what we called a \u201ccrop scene investigation,\u201d in which the students had to look at different pieces of evidence that we would get \u2013 for example, crop rotation histories, spray logs, weather information \u2013 and based off the favorable conditions and what we know about the pathogens, they had to figure out which of the pathogens caused the disease at the farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first educational lab that I’d ever created by myself, but we had a 75% solve rate, which is really good in the short amount of time we had, and I think the students really had fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was cool to see these students staring at the paper and see that light bulb moment where they say, \u201cOh, wait. I think I found something important. Let me tell my friends so that we can solve this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have four high school students that I mentor. We meet monthly on Zoom, and they have access to me via email if they have questions. They have to come up with a topic related to a challenge in a specific country or state, and then we had to help them develop a research project and write a paper about it. I\u2019m not just working with students who are interested in plant pathology, so I\u2019ve had to read papers about things they’re interested in so that I can inform them better. I really enjoy seeing how they think and what do they think is important and what help do they need,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plant pathology is not a very widely known discipline. When I tell people that I\u2019m in plant pathology, they say, \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I want these younger generations to see that they have options, and there may be some disciplines that they’ve never heard about that could really interest them. I’m hoping that as we tell the younger generations about plant pathology, maybe we can start building up our undergraduate programs and get more interest in the discipline. With more people trained in plant pathology, we can help farmers solve problems faster and more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, I’d like to be a professor with a teaching appointment, but I’m also open to other opportunities. I really do enjoy high school age students \u2013 but, honestly, all ages are fun to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was just talking to Dr. Quesada about this; I feel like PSI is an environment that uplifts students and professors and gives them opportunities to see what it is that they like. And if you want to do education or you want to do robotics \u2013 whatever it is you want to do \u2013 the PSI has so many opportunities for you to present your research and meet people in a supportive environment. The PSI has also given me a lot of opportunities to boost my resume and get hands-on experience as well as monetary support that\u2019s so important to graduate students. I\u2019ve really appreciated all it\u2019s done for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>As we gear up for NC State\u2019s 2025 Day of Giving<\/a> on March 26, the N.C. PSI is highlighting passion-inspired, donor-fueled staff, students and others behind our plant sciences research, extension and workforce development efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
With generous support from donors to the N.C. Plant Sciences initiative, Cochran-Murray is pursuing a Ph.D. under William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist Lina Quesada-Ocampo<\/a> of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phytophthora capsici<\/em> is a soilborne pathogen of vegetables that can survive in surface irrigation water, and I\u2019m looking into molecular diagnostics and fungicide resistance markers in the pathogen population in North Carolina. I do a lot of work with peppers, cucumbers and pumpkins \u2013 and\u00a0 It's also a problem in watermelon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pathogen starts off making a dark lesion on the fruit surface or at the base of the plant and you\u2019ll start to see this powdered doughnut look. That\u2019s the pathogen growing on the fruit and spoiling it. It ends up just melting the fruit, killing it and the plant so the farmer has nothing left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's one of the most widespread cucurbit diseases, and it also affects other crops, including ornamentals and crops grown in greenhouses because it moves in water systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our idea is if we can rapidly diagnose in the field using a molecular test in a handheld device, we can help farmers determine if and when it\u2019s economical for them to pay for improved water sanitation systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, and extreme weather events, like hurricanes, are making conditions more favorable for these pathogens at the same time we have less land available for agriculture and have to feed a growing population.\u00a0And it\u2019s not just what's happening in the field while the plants grow, diseases also happen after the crop is collected from the field and put into storage. That also significantly decreases what goes to the table. All of this makes solutions based on plant pathology more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I received the Norma L. Trolinder N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative Graduate Student Endowment<\/a> Award, and under the fellowship you have to pick the path you want to go down and you need to have a mentor. My mom was a teaching assistant and library assistant, and so I have always felt drawn to teaching and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I've always been super into true crime, and so as we approached Plant Sciences Outreach Day, I was trying to think of a way to keep the students interested and also teach them something about plant pathology. As plant pathologists, based off limited amounts of evidence, we have to piece together what pathogen caused the disease that\u2019s affecting a farmer\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I designed what we called a \u201ccrop scene investigation,\u201d in which the students had to look at different pieces of evidence that we would get \u2013 for example, crop rotation histories, spray logs, weather information \u2013 and based off the favorable conditions and what we know about the pathogens, they had to figure out which of the pathogens caused the disease at the farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first educational lab that I'd ever created by myself, but we had a 75% solve rate, which is really good in the short amount of time we had, and I think the students really had fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was cool to see these students staring at the paper and see that light bulb moment where they say, \u201cOh, wait. I think I found something important. Let me tell my friends so that we can solve this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have four high school students that I mentor. We meet monthly on Zoom, and they have access to me via email if they have questions. They have to come up with a topic related to a challenge in a specific country or state, and then we had to help them develop a research project and write a paper about it. I\u2019m not just working with students who are interested in plant pathology, so I\u2019ve had to read papers about things they're interested in so that I can inform them better. I really enjoy seeing how they think and what do they think is important and what help do they need,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plant pathology is not a very widely known discipline. When I tell people that I\u2019m in plant pathology, they say, \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I want these younger generations to see that they have options, and there may be some disciplines that they've never heard about that could really interest them. I'm hoping that as we tell the younger generations about plant pathology, maybe we can start building up our undergraduate programs and get more interest in the discipline. With more people trained in plant pathology, we can help farmers solve problems faster and more effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally, I'd like to be a professor with a teaching appointment, but I'm also open to other opportunities. I really do enjoy high school age students \u2013 but, honestly, all ages are fun to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was just talking to Dr. Quesada about this; I feel like PSI is an environment that uplifts students and professors and gives them opportunities to see what it is that they like. And if you want to do education or you want to do robotics \u2013 whatever it is you want to do \u2013 the PSI has so many opportunities for you to present your research and meet people in a supportive environment. The PSI has also given me a lot of opportunities to boost my resume and get hands-on experience as well as monetary support that\u2019s so important to graduate students. I\u2019ve really appreciated all it\u2019s done for me.<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor\u2019s Note: As we gear up for NC State\u2019s 2025 Day of Giving on March 26, the N.C. PSI is highlighting passion-inspired, donor-fueled staff, students and others behind our plant sciences research, extension and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":78357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"As a graduate student in plant pathology, Cochran-Murray\u00a0has a passion for solving mysteries, detecting plant diseases and educating a next generation of agricultural scientists.<\/em>\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[118,117,110,177,109,114],"tags":[9],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-78356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-gifts-and-awards","category-nc-psi","category-newswire","category-plant-sciences-building","category-research","tag-_from-newswire-collection-80"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78356"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78362,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78356\/revisions\/78362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78356"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/psi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=78356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}