Conference on Soilborne Plant Pathogens & California Nematology Workshop
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
8:00-3:00 pm Field Trip
3:30-5:30 pm California Nematology Workshop. Nectarine Room.
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
7:30-8:00 am Registration
8:00-8:15 am Opening Remarks. Atef Swelam. Director Kearney and Westside Research and Extension Centers, aiswelam@ucanr.edu.
8:15-9:15 am Keynote Talk I. Session Chair: Andreas Westphal, University of California-Riverside, andreasw@ucr.edu
Subterranean Conservation Biological Control: Working with What We’ve Got. Larry Duncan. University of Florida. lwduncan@ufl.edu
9:15-10:30 am Session I. Nematodes I. Session Chair: Andreas Westphal, University of California-Riverside, andreasw@ucr.edu
Biological Suppressiveness of Sugarbeet Cyst Nematodes in California Coastal Broccoli Fields. J. Smith Becker, S. T. Koike, J. Borneman, and J. O. Becker (speaker). University of California-Riverside. obecker@ucr.edu
Biological control potential of fourteen Hyalorbilia oviparasitica strains against plant nematodes. Jiue-in Yang. University of California-Riverside. jiuein.yang@ucr.edu
Nematode and soil health management in low desert vegetable cropping systems. Philip Waisen. UCCE Riverside and Imperial Counties. pwaisen@ucanr.edu
Nematode management in Brazilian cropping systems: evidence from high pressure systems. Wellington Rodrigues. Lallemand Plant Care. wrodrigues@lallemand.com
Use of a nematicide as a foliar spray – effects on root-knot nematodes. Antoon Ploeg. University of California-Riverside. atploeg@ucr.edu
10:30-11:00 am Coffee Break & Martin Stoner Student Travel Scholarship Announcements
11:00-12:15 pm Session II. Martin Stoner Student Travel Scholarship Presentations. Session Chair: Session Chair: Raymond Mireles, UCCE Fresno and Tulare Counties, jrmireles@ucanr.edu
Studies of Corky Root in Lettuce. María Ferrer (student scholarship winner). University of California-Davis. mferrerruiz@ucdavis.edu
Optimizing the Use of Coniothyrium minitans for Management of Sclerotinia Stem Rot of Soybean (Glycine max). Amit Sharma (winner). University of Wisconsin-Madison. amit.sharma@wisc.edu
Rhamnolipid Biosurfactant Application Prevents Pythium Infection and Carrot Cavity Spot Development. Sola Awoyemi (runner up). University of California-Riverside. sawoy001@ucr.edu
Limitations of Soil Applied Biologicals for Managing Lettuce Fusarium Wilt. Evan Tamayo (runner up). Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. emtamayo@calpoly.edu
Evaluating Host Resistance to Macrophomina Root Rot and Verticillium Wilt in Strawberry. Maria Alvarez Arredondo. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. malvar88@calpoly.edu
12:15-1:15 pm Lunch
1:15-2:30 pm Session III. Nematodes II. Session Chair: Antoon Ploeg, University of California-Riverside, atploeg@ucr.edu
Can walnut residues play a role in nematode population dynamics? Choi Chow . University of California-Riverside. choi.chow@ucr.edu
Improving thresholds levels for management of plant-parasitic nematodes in almond. Rainier Medina. University of California-Riverside. rainier.medina@ucr.edu
Soil suppressiveness against plant-parasitic nematodes in almond. Damaris Godinez-Vidal. University of California-Riverside. damaris.godinezvidal@ucr.edu
Multi-tactic approaches for nematode management in grapes. Andreas Westphal. University of California-Riverside. andreasw@ucr.edu
Target Protein Identification of Chalcone Nematicides in Caenorhabditis elegans. Ayuba Abaka. California State University-Fresno. ayuba@mail.fresnostate.edu
2:30-2:45 pm Break
2:45-3:30 pm Session IV. Disease Resistance and Plant-Microbe Interactions. Session Chair: Hao Peng, USDA-ARS, Hao.Peng@usda.gov
Developing Tomato Resistance to the Parasitic Plant, Branched Broomrape. Alexander Liu. University of California-Davis. alxliu@ucdavis.edu
Effector repertoires of tobacco-infecting Rhizoctonia solani AG3 and AG4 isolates
Beneficial bacteria mitigate drought stress by upregulating the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. Emma Gachomo. University of California-Riverside. emma.w.gachomo@ucr.edu
3:30-4:45 pm Steering Committee
6:00-9:00 pm Banquet Dinner
Thursday, March 26, 2026
8:15-9:15 am Keynote Talk II. Session Chair: Andreas Westphal, University of California-Riverside, andreasw@ucr.edu
The Journey of a Plant Pathologist: From Soilborne Fungal Pathogens to Aerial Tree Pathogens. Themis Michailides. University of California-Davis. tjmichailides@ucanr.edu
9:15-10:30 am Session V. Fungal and Oomycete Genomics and Population Dynamics. Session Chair: Kelley Paugh, California Department of Food and Agriculture, kelley.paugh@cdfa.ca.gov
Diversity of Phytophthora sp. associated with plant roots in nurseries in California. Wolfgang Schweigkofler. Dominican University of California. wolfgang.schweigkofler@dominican.edu
New detections of Fusarium wilt on berry crops. Kelly Ivors. Driscoll’s. kelly.ivors@driscolls.com
Prevalence of a Novel Pathotype of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae in California and Arizona. Nethmini Wijesundara. University of California-Riverside. nethmini.wijesundara@ucr.edu
Population Genomic Diversity of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae and the Emergence of a Novel Variant. Nicole Lukasko. University of California-Riverside. nicole.lukasko@ucr.edu
The causal agent of Pythium wilt disease in lettuce, Globisporangium uncinulatum. Yuxin Bai. University of California-Davis. byxbai@ucdavis.edu
10:30-10:45 am Coffee Break
10:45-12:15 pm Session VI. Sustainable Disease Management. Session Chair: Shashika Hewavitharana, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, shewavit@calpoly.edu
Management Strategies for Phytophthora Crown and Root Rot of Pistachio in California. Alejandro Hernandez. University of California-Davis. aihernandez@ucdavis.edu
Integrating Biofungicides into Conventional Programs: Pathways Toward Sustainable Pest Management. Meghan Rains. Lallemand Plant Care. mrains@lallemand.com
In vitro efficacy of sanitation products against two soilborne pathogens: Verticillium dahliae and Phytophthora cactorum. Elias Barriga-Hernandez. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. ebarriga@calpoly.edu
Effects of soil steaming on microbial biodiversity and physiological activity. Wolfgang Schweigkofler. Dominican University of California. wolfgang.schweigkofler@dominican.edu
Develop integrated management strategies for lettuce Fusarium wilt. Yu-Chen Wang. UCCE Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. yckwang@ucanr.edu
The IR-4 Project: Increasing pest management options for specialty crop growers since 1963. Kari Arnold. Western Region IR-4. klarnold@ucdavis.edu