Geneva, new York
March 13, 2003
by John Zakour
Christine (Chris) D. Smart has been named assistant professor of
vegetable pathology at Cornell University. She will study
diseases of vegetable crops in New York, and conduct research
and extension in the plant pathology department at the New York
State Agricultural Experiment Station in
Geneva, NY. Previously, Smart was a visiting assistant professor
in the plant pathology department at
Cornell on the Ithaca campus. She started full time in Geneva on
March 1, 2003.
"Chris has a tremendous
background in plant pathology that will allow her to develop and
carry out excellent research and extension programs," said Tom
Burr, chairman of the plant pathology department in Geneva. "She
has conducted research on diverse pathogen types and has the
rare ability to do cutting-edge genomics research as well as
having an in-depth understanding of field pathology. Last
semester she did an outstanding job of teaching the introductory
plant pathology course in the Ithaca department. We are
certainly fortunate to have her in our department."
Burr said the position was the most important one to fill
because the department realized that the vegetable industry in
New York is growing in value, while faculty working on
vegetables had declined significantly in Geneva.
Smart researches the molecular basis of host-pathogen
interactions involving Phytophthora infestans and the biology of
oomycete plant pathogens. She is currently studying late blight
of tomato and potato (late blight is the disease that caused the
Irish potato famine), and will continue to study tomato late
blight and other diseases of tomato. After assessing the needs
of vegetable growers, she will develop new projects to address
them. "One of my goals is to gain a better understanding of
disease epidemics in the field which will lead to improved
management practices," said Smart, adding that she is really
looking forward to starting in this position.
Another of Smart's goals is to promote regional agriculture. "I
hope my program will support regional ag
through research, training graduate students and extension
education," Smart said.
Smart said studying vegetable pathology was exactly what she
wanted to do with her career. She first
became interested in plant pathology while working on chestnut
blight. She is intrigued by the interactions between plants and
microbes, and amazed by the devastation that a disease epidemic
can cause.
Smart received a B.S. in Biology in 1986, and a Ph.D. in Botany
and Plant Pathology in 1992, all from
Michigan State University. She was a graduate research assistant
for the department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Michigan
State University from 1986 to 1992. While at Michigan State, in
1988, she received the William Fields Award for Excellence in
Teaching. From 1992 to 1996, Smart was a postdoctoral research
associate for the department of plant pathology at the
University of California- Davis. She became active in the
Cornell community in 1996, when she became a postdoctoral
research associate with plant pathologist William E. Fry, in
Ithaca. She became a visiting professor in 2001. While at
Cornell, Smart has been a co-investigator on a USDA National
Research Initiative-Competitive grant for the role of oospores
in the epidemiology of Phytophthora infestans. She was also the
PI on a USDA National Research Initiative-Competitive grant to
study resistance in tomatoes to Phytophthora infestans. Smart
has authored or co-authored numerous publications since 1993.
|