symposium team

GORGE MEYER

Graduate Research Assistant- PhD Candidate Co-Chair, Logistics

George Meyer is a 5th year Ph.D. student working in the Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Department under professor Dr. Josh Widhalm. His research is in plant secondary metabolism. His project is on elucidating different resistance mechanisms to the allelochemical, juglone, which is synthesized in Black Walnut trees. He aims to find a career as a patent agent. He earned two bachelor's degrees from the University of Missouri in Biochemistry and Plant Science.

Vera vukovic

Graduate Research Assistant- MS Candidate Co-Chair, Recruitment

Vera Vukovic is a MS student and research assistant at Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, majoring in Turf­ Weed Science, under the supervision of Dr. Aaron Patton. Her research is focused on the ecology and suppression of annual bluegrass. She originates from South-eastern Europe, Serbia, where she received her bachelor's degree in Plant protection at University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture.

JEANINE ARANA

Graduate Research Assistant - PhD student Co-Chair, Outreach

Jeanine Arana is from Nicaragua. She is a first year PhD student in the department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University, IN, USA. She holds a BS in Agricultural Sciences and Production from Zamorano University, Honduras, and a MS in Horticulture from Purdue University. She is specializing in weed science and her thesis project focuses in weed control in multi-year plasticulture strawberry production.

KATHERINE RIVERA-ZULUAGA

Graduate Research Assistant - PhD candidate

Katherine is a PhD Candidate from the Iyer-Pascuzzi Lab in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology. She completed her BS degree in Biology at lcesi University in Cali-Colombia. Katherine's research focusses on tomato root-mediated defense responses to the soilborne pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum. She enjoys research and she is passionate about teaching.

SCOTT BENZINGER

Graduate Research Assistant - PhD student

Scott is a second-year PULSe graduate student who works in the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture department under Dr. Josh Widhalm. He joined Purdue after obtaining his Chemistry and Plant Biology double bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The lab's central focus on 1,4 naphthoquinones provides the ideal opportunity to learn and further the understanding of plant primary and secondary metabolism, leading to plants with higher yields of natural and sustainable high-value metabolic products.

REBECCA LEUSCHEN-KOHL

NSF Graduate Research Fellow- PhD Student, Outreach Committee Leader

BeKa Leuschen-Kohl is from Kansas City, Missouri. She is a third year PhD student in the department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University in the Quantitative Plant Pathology Program (QP3). She holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Her thesis work focuses on understanding bacterial pathogen recognition in tomato root systems.