Batuman Lab (Dr. Ozgur Batuman, Post-doc Kellee Britt-Ugartemendia, and Master’s Plant Pathology student Lauren Fessler) had the opportunity to attend the 7th IRCHLB Conference from March 26-30, 2024, in Riverside, California.
Dr. Batuman gave an oral presentation on the automated trunk-injection research, a USDA-NIFA project, in collaboration with the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center (SWFREC) Precision Ag lab titled, “Needle-based, automated trunk injection system for HLB-affected citrus trees” on the third day of the conference.
Dr. Batuman Presented on the automated trunk-injection research at the 7th IRCHLB
Dr. Britt-Ugartemendia gave an oral presentation on some of her research involving the discovery of insect-specific viruses in Florida Asian citrus psyllids, titled “High-throughput Sequencing of Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) in Distinct Populations and Developmental Stages from Florida” during the “Vector Control: Genome to Field” session on the second day of the conference.
Dr. Britt-Ugartemendia gave an oral presentation on the discovery of Insect-Specific Viruses in Florida Asian citrus psyllids at the 7th IRCHLB
Lauren was able to present some of the Batuman lab research as a poster titled “Defending Citrus Orchards: Novel Approaches to HLB and Canker Management Using New Plant Defense Inducers” during the conference poster sessions.
Lauren presented a research poster on novel approach to HLB and Canker management using new plant defense inducers at the 7th IRCHLB
Ozgur, Kellee, and Lauren were able to attend several eye-opening seminars about the various ongoing applied and molecular HLB research from around the world. After the conference ended on the last day, Lauren and Kellee visited the site of the first navel orange citrus tree in California and the California Citrus State Historic Park. They saw a diverse collection of citrus and rutaceous varieties.
