Education
April 2001-present Ph.D. candidate, Plant Pathology; Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University.
1998-2000 M.Sc. in Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
1991-1996 B.Sc., Agriculture (with honors), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Major: Plant Science.
Research Focus
Agricultural research and plant pathology are subjects that
have interested me since the beginning of my university career. I am fascinated
by the interactions between plants and the organisms that cause disease. I am
especially attracted by the effect of environmental conditions upon these interactions.
Environment plays a critical role in the development of disease. In many cases
if the environmental conditions, such as temperature or leaf wetness, are not
favorable then disease development is limited or does not occur. Other aspects
of plant disease epidemiology of interest are the effects that cultivar susceptibility
and inoculum dose can play in the epidemic progress.
My research involves the effects of inoculum potential and
cultivar susceptibility on the incidence of fire blight under natural orchard
conditions. Orchards are surveyed for baseline levels of disease, which are
then correlated with incipient disease levels, corresponding to different phases
of the disease. In addition, the levels of incidence are correlated to weather
data collected for each orchard site.
Professional Experience
1995-1996: Undergraduate assistant to Dr. R.J. Copeman
at the University of British Columbia. Studied the effect of chitinase upon
the germination of fungal spores of five plant pathogens using light microscopy
techniques. Tested whether chitinase would be a possible disease control method
in the greenhouse.
1996: Tree fruit technician at Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada. Examined the effects of calcium and phosphate applications on apple
color and the physiological disorder bitter pit. All leaf and fruit samples
had to be digested for mineral analysis.
2000: Graduate research assistant at McGill University,
Department of Plant Science and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under the
supervision of Drs. Timothy Paulitz and Odile Carisse. Studied differential
cultivar susceptibility and the effect of cultivar on the minimum leaf wetness
period required for infection by Venturia inaequalis, the apple
scab pathogen. Also investigated the spatial distribution of ascospores in
a commercial orchard and the relationship of ascospore dose to disease development.
2001: Research assistant at Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada. Worked on a degree-day model to improve the prediction of an infection
event for Gibberella zeae on wheat with the aim of being better
able to time the application of fungicides.
2001-present: Graduate research assistant, Department
of Plant Pathology, Cornell Univesity. Under the supervision of Dr. Herb
Aldwinckle. Goals are to improve the forecasting of fire blight by revising
the MARYBLYT prediction program. Concentration will be on the assignation
of ‘risk points’ to the factors involved in the blossom blight phase
of the disease and to evaluate various management action thresholds based
on the accumulation of ‘risk points’. Further areas of concentration
are modification of MARYBLYT based on varietal susceptibility, orchard
age and inoculum potential.
Professional Societies
American Phytopathological Society
Canadian Phytopathological Society
Quebec Society for the Protection of Plants
Publications
Charest, J., Carisse, O., Dewdney, M., Philion, V, and Paulitz, T. 1999. Relationship of airborne ascospore dose of Venturia inaequalis to lesion production under natural conditions. Phytopathology 89: S20.
Charest, J. Dutilleul, P., Dewdney, M., Paulitz, T., Philion V., and Carisse, O. 2000. Spatial distribution of airborne ascospores of Venturia inaequalis under commercial orchard conditions. Phytoprotection 81:34.
Charest, J., Dutilleul P., Dewdney M., Paulitz, T., Philion V., and Carisse, O. in press. Study of spatial distribution of Venturia inaequalis ascospores in a commercial apple orchard. in press. (Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Integrated Control of Pome Fruits Diseases, Fontevraud, France).
Dewdney, M., Charest, J., Paulitz, T., and Carisse, O. 2000. Are cultivars differentially susceptible to Venturia inaequalis ascospores under greenhouse conditions? Phytoprotection 81:35.
Dewdney, M., Charest, J., Philion, V., Paulitz, T. and Carisse, O. 1999. Field evaluation of minimum infection time of Venturia inaequalis for different cultivars. Phytopathology 89: S20.
Dewdney, M., B. d'Estienne, J. Charest, T. Paulitz and O. Carisse.
in press. Relative Cultivar Susceptibility to Venturia inaequalis ascospores
under greenhouse conditions. (Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Integrated
Control of Pom e Fruits Diseases, Fontevraud, France).
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