University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Fungal Ecology Lab
Kelvin presented a poster on his research at the MSA meeting in Madison, WI. His poster was titled: "Fusarium Diversity and Cryptic Species from Diseased Nebraska Soybeans".
Riley presented a poster on her research at the MSA meeting in Madison, WI. Her poster was titled: "Genetically Distinct Populations of the Potato Black Dot Pathogen, Colletotrichum coccodes, Are Resistant to Fungicides with Multiple Modes of Action".
Kelvin shared some of his art and research with MSA and it was featured in their June 2025 Newsletter. Read more about it here.
New publication pre-print in Plant Health Progress!
June 13th, 2025
Teddy contributed to a new manuscript that will be published in Plant Health Progress soon. The manuscript is titled "A Diagnostic Guide for Fusarium Root Rot of Soybean" and it is the outcome of efforts by an international group of researchers, led by Febina Mathew at North Dakota State University. Find the pre-print here.
Riley graduates with her Bachelor's degree in Cellular Biochemistry and highest distinction!
June 1st, 2025
Riley Eisenbraun, who joined our lab in the Fall of 2024 as an undergraduate student, has completed her Bachelor's Degree in Cellular Biochemistry as a Chancellor's Scholar at UNL. Riley graduated with the highest distinction in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). Congratulations, Riley! Find a note here.
Tessa graduates with her Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and highest distinction!
June 1st, 2025
Tessa Fiore, has completed her Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, with highest distinction in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Congratulations, Tessa! Find a note here.
Tessa was featured as the May 2025 student spotlight by the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Tessa joined our lab in the Fall of 2023 and recently completed her undergraduate thesis and graduated with highest distinction. Congratulations, Tessa! Read it here.
Riley defended her undergraduate thesis on Fungicide Resistance in Colletotrichum coccodes
April 24th, 2025
Riley Eisenbraun successfully defended her undergraduate thesis titled: "Single and Multiple Fungicide Resistance Among Genetically Distinct Populations of the Potato Black Dot Pathogen, Colletotrichum coccodes." Congratulations, Riley!.
Preangka joins us from The Ohio State University. Preangka's research interest are soybean diseases and soilborne pathogens. She is originally from Bangladesh and has reported fungal diseases on dragonfruit in Bangladesh, among other things. Read her manuscript here.
Riley gets the 1st place for her poster at the American Society of Plant Biologist - Midwest Division Meeting
March 28th, 2025
Riley participated in the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologist (ASPB) Midwest and won the 1st place in the poster competition. The title of her poster was "Single and Multiple Site Fungicide Resistance Among Genetically Distinct Populations of the Potato Black Dot Pathogen, Colletotrichum coccodes. Congratulations, Riley! Find out more here.
Teddy delivered a guest seminar at the Department of Plant Pathology at University of Georgia (UGA). The seminar was titled: "Evolution and diversity of Xylaria necrophora, an emerging pathogen of soybean in the southern United States.
Kelvin delivers departmental seminar on "Navigating challenges in the management of soil-borne pathogens of soybean" this past week.
March 15th, 2025
Kelvin delivered his first departmental seminar titled: "Navigating challenges in the management of soil-borne pathogens of soybean" on March 10th, 2025. This is an important step for Kelvin in the pursuit of a MS degree in Plant Pathology. Congratulations, Kelvin!
Teddy recently attended the Southern Soybean Disease Workers (SSDW) meeting in Pensacola Beach, FL and was elected to serve as their VP in their 2026 meeting. This is an important step to continue building collaborations across the country. Find out more here.
Xin Zhi obtains her MS degree at the December 2024 commencements
December 20th, 2024
Xin Zhi Khoo, who joined our lab in January of 2023, obtained her MS degree at the December 2024 commencements and graduation ceremony. Xin Zhi did a wonderful job and she will be dearly missed. . Congratulations, Xin Zhi! Find out more here.
Kelvin won the 1st place at the graduate level poster competition of the 4th annual UNL Microbiology Symposium
December 10th, 2024
Kelvin, who is currently working in the diversity and fungicide resistance of soybean-associated Fusarium spp. won the 1st place at the graduate level poster competition of the 4th annual UNL Microbiology Symposium. Congratulations, Kelvin! Find out more here.
Xin Zhi delivers her exit seminar and defends her MS thesis successfully!
December 2nd, 2024
Xin Zhi, who joined our lab in the Spring of 2023, delivered her exit seminar and defender her MS thesis this past month. Her thesis was titled: "Evolution of Rhizoctonia solani is shaped by host range and population-specific transitions to specialism". Congratulations, Xin Zhi!!
Teddy gets the Faculty Spotlight from the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR).
June 25th, 2024
CASNR had Teddy as the faculty spolight in June of 2024. In the story, you can learn more about Teddy's background, why he studied fungi, and how he ended up at UNL.
Teddy and Xin Zhi attend the Mycological Society of America (MSA) meeting in Canada.
June 25th, 2024
Teddy and Xin Zhi attended this year's MSA meeting in Markham, ONT, Canada! The meeting was amazing as usual and it was Xin Zhi's first MSA meeting. For Teddy, it was good seeing some old friends and familiar faces, and so many new faces.
Xin Zhi delivered a great talk at the annual MSA 2024 meeting in Ontario, Canada. The title of her talk was "Reconstructing the evolutionary history of host preference in Rhizoctonia solani unveils a shift to specialism in one of its subpopulations". Congratulations, Xin Zhi!! .
Teddy contributed to a manuscript with researchers at the University at Albany. The paper is titled "Evolutionary dynamics of the accessory genomes of Staphylococcus aureus" and explores how the accessory genome content among phylogenetic lineages of S. aureus is structured and has evolved.
Teddy was invited to deliver a guest seminar in the Department of Entomology here at UNL. The seminar was entitled: "Emerging Fungal Threats to US Agriculture" and focused on the Taproot Decline Pathogen, Xylaria necrophora.
New graduate student: Xin Zhi Khoo! Xin just joined the Fungal Ecology Lab to work on the ecology of Rhizoctonia spp. found in Nebraska. Welcome Xin Zhi!.