2010 Summer Research Scholars Program
Research Projects
What project will you work on during your internship as a Summer Research Scholar? You should chose three (3) projects from the list below and note them in order of preference (e.g., 2, 4, 1) at the bottom of the APPLICATION FORM. We will do our best to accommodate your top choice.
Faculty members associated with each project are also listed. You
can read more about their programs by clicking on their names.
1. Flying fungi
Investigate the remarkable processes that fungi have evolved for dispersal and survival in an introduction to the sciences of aerobiology and plant epidemiology. As part of a research team, you'll learn how fungal plant pathogens move anywhere from microns to thousands of kilometers to cause disease. Plant systems involved include wine grapes, fruit and vegetable crops.
2. Identify the culprit
Characterize emerging viruses in diseased fruit crops and help decide on the best management options. In recent years there have been several outbreaks of virus diseases in fruit crops. Take a hands-on approach to molecular diagnostics to identify the culprit(s) and characterize its/their genetic diversity within plant hosts and insect vectors.
Faculty: Fuchs
3. Go Organic
Learn the ‘ins and outs’ of organic apple production in the eastern United States while tackling a serious summer disease problem plaguing organic apple growers. Participants will evaluate orchard sanitation practices and organic fruit treatments for effects on late season diseases. The project will also include opportunities to visit and discuss production challenges with organic apple producers in the region.
Faculty: Cox
4. Blushing apples
Use transformation techniques with a transcription factor gene to alter the color of all the tissues, not just the peel, of an apple plant and see RED! Use this tool to study chimerism in transgenics, and how silencing signals are transmitted through a grafted plant.
Faculty: Aldwinckle
5. Glowing tag
Provide glowing insights into virus infection dynamics in plants. Scholars will develop and use a fluorescent-tagged virus to study virus-host interactions and monitor the infection process. This project provides opportunities to learn and use molecular and microbiology techniques, innovative inoculation procedures of plant hosts and state of the art microscope imaging technologies.
6. Blight Busters
Track microevolution of a destructive vegetable pathogen in the field! Two years ago, we inoculated a research field with two isolates of the water mold Phytophthora capsici, mimicking the real-world introduction of Phytophthora blight onto a vegetable farm. Collect the progeny of these parental isolates from the field, then use microbiological and molecular lab techniques to learn how this new population is changing from year to year
Faculty: Smart
7.Save a plant, shoot a fungus
Work with a team of scientists who have isolated genes that control spore production in a fungal pathogen of wine grapes, and investigate a new approach to disease control. A "gene gun" will be used to shoot sporulation-associated genes into the nucleus, which can be over expressed or silenced, thereby making the pathogen less likely to spread.
Faculty: Seem, Cadle-Davidson, Gadoury
8. Make the right Decision
Mysterious genetic code anomalies in tree fruit pathogens are causing disastrous management failures in apple and stone fruit operations throughout the Eastern United States. Participants will learn to use special molecular techniques to indentify the hidden genetic codes and develop a molecular assay to be used by fruit extension/research programs throughout the Northeast to help fruit growers avoid catastrophic management decisions.
Faculty: Cox
9. Resistance, yes we can
Determine how resistance can be achieved against devastating viruses in otherwise susceptible plant hosts by genetic engineering. Scholars will use molecular and biological approaches to identify the most effective transgene candidates for virus resistance in transient assays and characterize their expression dynamics in transgenic plants. Opportunities will also be provided to contribute to transformation experiments of embryogenic cultures.
Faculty: Fuchs
10. Worms
Worms? Well, actually nematodes—microscopic organisms that live in animals, plants and in the soil. Learn about the diversity of nematodes, especially the beneficial free-living nematodes and the damaging plant-parasitic nematodes. To grow healthy vegetables you need to start with healthy soil, and keep the bad worms out! Scholars will learn how to extract and quantify nematodes from soil, investigate nematode communities in healthy and poorly managed soils, assess the impact of production practices on nematodes, and investigate management options (biological, cultural or chemical) to suppress nematodes and their damage to vegetables.
Faculty: Abawi
11. Killer bacteria
Study how bacteria enter flowers and shoots high up in apple trees and then zoom down inside the tree to invade the roots and kill the whole tree before anyone knows it's happened. Scholars will inoculate trees with virulent bacteria and then monitor the tree visually and with molecular tools to monitor the bacteria's progress. Effects of time of infection and water status of the trees will also be studied.
Faculty: Aldwinckle
12. Bacteria that prevent disease
Study how some bacteria function as biological controls of crown gall infections of grapevines. Identify genetic mechanisms used by the biological control bacteria and how they interact with the pathogen, Agrobacterium vitis and with grapevines to prevent disease. Test how the biological controls can be applied to plants for maximum efficiency.
Faculty:Burr
13. Stop the Rot
Learn how and why fungi attack vegetables on the farm and in the grocery store. Participants will work with others in laboratory, greenhouse, and field settings to survey farmers and retailers about costly mold attacks. Help collect field data on strategies for controlling molds on green beans and cabbage. Learn how Cornell Cooperative Extension helps farmers put research knowledge to work!
Faculty: Dillard
14. Hold the sunscreen
Powdery mildew is the most important disease of grapevines worldwide, but it is inhibited on plant tissues that receive full exposure to sunlight. Work in the laboratory to determine the dose of ultraviolet radiation necessary to effect this phenomenon, and in the vineyard to demonstrate how disease can be limited by cultural techniques that promote sunlight penetration into the fruiting zone of the grapevine canopy.
Faculty: Wilcox
15. Chillen' in the Vineyard
Those cool early summer nights may be great for sleeping, but they aren't so good for some plant diseases! Investigate how cold temperatures can kill the fungus that causes grape powdery mildew, and how those same cold temperatures can also make grapevines more resistant to infection. This work will involve both vineyard investigations into how leaf temperatures supercool at night and how the disease spreads in the early season, as well as laboratory studies where the Scholar will learn various microscopy skills, including scanning electron microscopy! If you like working outside, but also want to improve your microscopy skills, Chillin' in the Vineyard is just for you!
Faculty:Seem, Cadle-Davidson, Gadoury