Ecology and Environment
Date:
11/26/2019
Several MSI PIs are the leads on projects that recently received funding from the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center (MITPPC). The projects aim at preventing and fighting various weeds, diseases, and insects that are affecting Minnesota’s plant life.
The MSI PIs and their projects are:
- Robert Blanchette (professor, Plant Pathology)
- Project title: Preventing Tree Disease
- Professor Blanchette uses MSI for genomic research into different types of wood-decay fungi.
- Jeannine Cavender-Bares (professor, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior)
- Project title: Sensing Oak Wilt From the Air
- Professor Cavender-Bares uses MSI for research that seeks to develop better methods for remotely sensing many dimensions of plant biodiversity, including functional, genotypic, and phylogenetic measures of diversity.
- Peter Reich (Regents Professor, Forest Resources)
- Project title: Controlling Buckthorn With Native Trees
- Professor Reich uses MSI to support development of a global land model that is based on plant functional traits.
- Michael Smanski (assistant professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics)
- Project title: Genetic Control of Insects
- Professor Smanski uses MSI for genomics and bioinformatics investigations of microbial gene clusters.
- Donald Wyse (professor, Agronomy and Plant Genetics; co-director, Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Agricultural Management)
- Project title: Testing for Palmer Amaranth Seedlings
- Professor Wyse uses MSI as part of research to develop a novel, highly specific genetic screening method for Palmer Amaranth.
The full list of projects can be found on the MITPPC website: MITPPC awards #3.8 million to fight invasive species in Minnesota.