Bazgha Zia is a postdoctoral researcher at the United States Vegetable Laboratory in Charleston, S.C. Bazgha’s research includes the development of virus resistant genetic material in cucurbits and identification of novel virus strains.
CucCAP Scientists
The CucCAP team is a diverse group of scientists including plant breeders, plant genomics specialists, plant pathologists, crop production specialists, and agricultural economics specialists. Early career scientists on the CucCAP team include both MS and PhD graduate students, Post doctoral researchers, research technicians, and other technical staff assisting the CucCAP project’s principal investigators.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Anju Biswas
Anju Biswas is a Post Doctoral fellow in the USDA-ARS-ORISE program at the U. S. Vegetable Laboratory at Charleston, SC. Her mentor is CucCAP Watermelon Team leader, Dr. Amnon Levi. The focus of her work is plant breeding, plant pathology, and genomics.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Prerna Sabharwal
Prerna Sabharwal is a graduate student working on her PhD in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida. Her major Professor is CucCAP Squash breeder, Dr. Geoffrey Meru. The focus of Prerna’s research includes plant breeding, plant pathology, and genomics.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Yara Rosado Rivera
Yara performs field, greenhouse and lab research experiments in order to evaluate different disease management strategies for Cucurbit crops. One of the most important aspects of her position is to make research results available to growers.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Md Ziaur Rahman Bhuiyan
Md Ziaur Rahman Bhuiyan is a postdoc in the vegetable pathology lab in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University. His project leader is Dr. Lina M. Quesada-Ocampo, a professor, vegetable pathologist, and leader of the CucCAP Integrated Disease Management Team.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | David E. Perla
David Perla is a graduate student in the Department of Plant Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University and is working on a PhD under the guidance of his major professor, Dr. Mary Hausbeck. David is investigating strategies to manage Phytophthora spp. on vegetables in Michigan.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Mariana Prieto Torres
Mariana Prieto Torres is a graduate student in the Vegetable Pathology Lab at NC State University and is working on a PhD under the guidance of her major professor, Dr. Lina Quesada
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Jingyin Yu
Jingyin Yu is a post doc in Zhangjun Fei’s lab in the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University in Ithica, N.Y. His research focuses on the development of the cucurbit genomics database and cucumber pangenome analysis.
