Recent News
Career Workshop held for students
Apr 23, 2024
We are grateful to Cal Poly CAFES Career Counselor Matt Parks for facilitating a career workshop for our Center students. The interactive workshop "Crafting Effective Resumes and Cover Letters" was held at the Strawberry Center on 16 April 2024 and drew several students. Matt presented valuable tips, strategies and insights for effective resume and cover letter preparation.
Thank you, Matt!
Latest blog post addresses Lygus management in strawberry
Apr 19, 2024
Lygus management needs a whole new class of tactics to strengthen the overall strategy. Everyone understands that regular monitoring, removing weed hosts, and having excellent spray coverage are key to success, but a common response heard is that “we NEED new chemistries.” One of these new developments is the Lygus sex pheromone. Since the early 2000s there have been researchers examining the pheromones in various Lygus species......
Read full blog article by Entomology Program Leader Mohammad Amir Aghaee @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/04/19/the-lygus-question/
Subscribe to the Strawberry Center research blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/
Botrytis fungicide efficacy study underway
Apr 17, 2024
These strawberries are part of our Botrytis fungicide efficacy study. For the postharvest evaluation, fruit is stored at room temperature and evaluated at 2-day intervals over a 10-day period. Fruit with visible fungal growth are recorded as decayed and discarded from the tray to avoid fruit-to-fruit spread of disease. With all the rain this year, it's turning out to be a great study. Results will be presented at our upcoming Field Day on August 8, 2024. Stay tuned for more!
Another fruitful year at the Cal Poly Open House!
Apr 15, 2024
Despite the rainy weather, the Strawberry Center's booth attracted a steady flow of visitors. Our table featured a prize spin wheel as well as informative plant pathology and entomology samples for display. Our amazing student employees and staff members had a great time chatting with prospective students and their families about all the exciting opportunities and resources available at the Center.
Come visit us at Open House
Apr 12, 2024
Cal Poly’s 31st annual Open House is upon us! This annual event happens this weekend and serves to welcome new students, families, and supporters to learn about student life at Cal Poly. The Strawberry Center team can’t wait for you to come by on Saturday and visit our booth located in the Cal Poly Farm Shop! Stop by and talk with some of our staff and student employees about our mission and activities as well as agriculture student internship opportunities. And don't forget to spin our prize-wheel to win a fun surprise.
We hope to see you there!
Pathology group attends joint APS-Soil-borne Plant Pathogens Conference
Apr 4, 2024
The Cal Poly Strawberry Center was well represented at the joint APS-Pacific Division meeting and the 69th Annual Soil-borne Plant Pathogens Conference, held in late March at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR.
In attendance were:
• Yu-Chen Wang (Cal Poly alumnus and current Plant Pathology Farm Advisor, UCCE)
• Dr. Shashika Hewavitharana (Strawberry Center, Pathology Program Leader) moderated the Student Presentation Session of the Soil-borne Pathogens Conference
• Cooper Calvin (current Cal Poly M.S. student) won a travel award from the APS-Pacific Division and gave an oral presentation on Macrophomina root rot management
• Mary Steele (Cal Poly alumnus and current Ph.D. student at Washington State University) won a travel award from the Soil-borne Pathogens Conference and gave an oral presentation on wheat cover cropping impacts on soil microbiome and Macrophomina root rot
• Celeste Gonzalez Chavez (Cal Poly alumnus and current M.S. student at UC Davis) won 3rd place in the APS-Pacific Division student poster presentation on fungal species associated with branch canker and dieback disease in pear
• Joseph Ramirez (current Cal Poly M.S. student) gave an oral presentation on host resistance to Macrophomina root rot and Verticillium wilt.
Congrats all!
Center hosts high school students
Mar 21, 2024
26 Hours of Science & Technology in Agriculture high school student tour
The Cal Poly Latinos in Agriculture Club, in collaboration with the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), hosted over 100 California high school students for this year's 26 Hours of Science & Technology in Agriculture event, which provides students with a 26-hour tour of Cal Poly's diverse agricultural offerings, centers, and departments. Center plant pathologist Shashika Hewavitharana and several students provided instructional demonstrations and hands-on activities focusing on basic strawberry plant diseases and diagnostic tests.
Angular Leaf Spot (ALS) showing up
Mar 21, 2024
We are seeing quite a bit of angular leaf spot (ALS) in our fields and getting some calls about it in other areas of the state. Angular leaf spot is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas fragariae....
*Read our latest blog post to learn about ALS symptoms and management.
https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/03/21/angular-leaf-spot-showing-up/
SUBSCRIBE to the Cal Poly Strawberry Center research blog @ https://strawberrycenterblog.com/subscribe/
Research Blog Post: Lygus detection numbers are up early this year
Mar 18, 2024
Lygus detections in first-year strawberry fields are up this year across all three districts. This is cause for concern being that the surrounding hills haven’t even bloomed in some areas yet.
So .... What could be driving Lygus so much earlier than expected?
Learn more in our latest research blog post:
BEWARE THE STORM THAT DELAYS THE LYGUS SWARM?
by Strawberry Center Entomology Program Leader Mohammad Amir Aghaee
https://strawberrycenterblog.com/2024/03/18/beware-the-storm-that-delays-the-lygus-swarm/
Meet Cornell's newest plant pathologist: Center alum Scott Cosseboom
Mar 8, 2024
We knew him when....
Congratulations to Strawberry Center alum Scott Cosseboom on his new position as Cornell Hudson Valley Research Laboratory (CHVRL)’s plant pathologist, where he will focus on sustainable disease management in specialty crops. Scott completed his MS degree in Plant Sciences in 2018 working at the Strawberry Center on fungicide resistance in Botrytis cinerea.
It makes us so proud to see our graduates progress in their careers!
