Peter Oudemans, Ph.D
BLUE DYNAMO Principal Investigator
Professor and Director of the Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension
Department of Plant Biology
Rutgers University
Email: oudemans@rutgers.edu
Virginia Stockwell, Ph.D
BLUE DYNAMO Principal Investigator
Research Plant Pathologist
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Horticultural Crops Research Unit
Corvallis, Oregon
Email: virginia.stockwell@usda.gov
Extension Educators
Graduate Students and Postdoctorals
Joel earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Science from Dalhousie University, Canada. Now, he is a Research Associate in the Miles Lab from the Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University. His research is primarily centered on developing molecular diagnostic tools for the detection of viruses in blueberry and fungal disease management.
Sukhdeep earned his Master’s degree in Crop and Soil Sciences from Michigan State University. He is working as a Research Technician in the Miles Lab at Michigan State University, focusing mainly on fungicide sensitivity, isolate collection, and storage for the BLUE DYNAMO.
Shay Szymanski
Shay graduated from Michigan State University with their Bachelors degrees in Microbiology and Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. They are pursuing their PhD with Dr. Miles studying the microbial ecology of blueberry fruits in the context of fruit rots such as anthracnose fruit rot as well as developing genetic tools for studying the pathology of blueberry anthracnose.
Adam graduated from UC Davis in the winter of 2024 with a B. S. in Plant Sciences. His interest in fruit pathology led him to pursue a PhD with Dr. Tim Miles at Michigan State University. He is working with anthracnose fruit rot on blueberries to understand how fungicide resistance has evolved and to make molecular tools to detect resistance.
She obtained her bachelor’s in biological sciences and a master’s degree in agriculture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Seeing the ability of plant pathology research to provide practical solutions for growers, Mary sought to continue her plant pathology training at Washington State University. She is doing her Ph.D. focusing on studying the biology and fungicide resistance of Botrytis spp. in highbush blueberry and developing molecular assays for the BLUE DYNAMO project.
Jackie earned her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Maryland. Recognizing the need for sustainable, practical solutions to combat fungal resistance to fungicides, she decided to advance her career in the Small Fruit Lab at the University of Maryland. She is currently pursuing her M.S. through support from the BLUE DYNAMO Project, aiming to elucidate fitness costs associated with important genetic mutations conferring fungicide resistance in the Botrytis fruit rot pathogen using CRISPR/Cas 9.
Anupa Adhikari
Anupa completed her bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from the Agriculture and Forestry University in Nepal. She is working on blueberry fruit rots for her M.S. in Dr. Oliver’s lab, pursuing her passion for plant pathology. Outside the lab, Anupa enjoys exploring nature and staying updated with the latest advancements in agricultural science.
Add pics and a small bio of grad students/ postdocs working on the bluedynamo project
Stephanie Rett-Cadman, Ph.D.
Stephanie recently completed her Ph.D in Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology-Horticulture from Michigan State University. Continuing at MSU, she is now a Postdoctoral Researcher working to create models to better detect and sort blueberries susceptible to fruit rots.