Lab Members

Ph.D. from University of Baghdad, Iraq  2006

I joined the department in 2014 on sabbatical leave and later, in 2015, decided to continue by joining the Steffenson project.
My research focuses on understanding and improving genetic resistance to plant diseases in cereal crops, especially barley and wheat. I work to identify and characterize new resistance genes from wild relatives to combat rust pathogens, which are among the most damaging diseases worldwide. In collaboration with plant breeders, I screen wheat and barley breeding materials for multiple diseases to support the development of cultivars with durable resistance. I also study resistance mechanisms in genetically modified wheat and barley carrying single or multi-cassette genes against rust pathogens under both greenhouse and field conditions. In addition, I am collaborating with partners to develop a pangenome for stem rust and leaf rust pathogens to identify and characterize avirulence (Avr) effectors. This work helps improve our understanding of host–pathogen interactions. Overall, I aim to combine molecular genetics, genomics, and applied breeding to develop sustainable solutions for disease management and contribute to global food security.

Hobbies: Fishing , camping, hiking

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oadi-matny-62737771/

B.S. in Horticulture from Iowa State University, 2015

M.S. in Biological Science from the University of Minnesota, 2022

I joined the Steffenson lab at the beginning of 2023 and have worked on several diseases of barley and wheat in the field and greenhouse. One disease that I have focused on is fusarium head blight (FHB) of barley, caused by Fusarium graminearum. FHB will be a focal point of my thesis work where I will be investigating resistance alleles coming from an introgression line population generated from a cross between the German malting cultivar, Scarlett, and a wild barley from Israel (ISR42-8).  I also plan to carry out yield loss assessments caused by FHB by observing the disease's impact on single spikes in the field without the use of pesticides as a control treatment. We believe this will allow for more natural observations of losses caused by FHB. Another area of interest is the Barley Pangenome created by IPK in Germany. We hope to leverage the genomic power of the pangenome with disease screenings to find novel disease resistance loci.

Hobbies: Running, watching baseball, music

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-nesbit/