Rebecca J. Nelson
Encyclopedia
Rebecca Nelson B.A. Swarthmore College
, 1982, Ph.D. University of Washington
, 1988 (Zoology
). Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, Plant Breeding and International Agriculture at Cornell University
. She is also Program Director for The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program
. Her current research concerns resistance to diseases of cereal crops (especially maize) in Africa. From 1997 until 2001 she led the late blight program at the International Potato Center
in Peru. She appeared in the KCTS public television documentary, Hot Potatoes, originally broadcast November 12, 2001.
She was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1998 http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.1301971/k.688B/Fellows_by_Domain_and_Area.htm
for her work in combating rice diseases and potato blight.
Nelson's parents were researchers at the National Institutes of Health
. She is married to NPR reporter Jonathan Miller and has two children, William and Benjamin.
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, 1982, Ph.D. University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, 1988 (Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
). Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, Plant Breeding and International Agriculture at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. She is also Program Director for The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program
McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program
Started in 1993, The McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program program provides funds to increase food security in the developing world...
. Her current research concerns resistance to diseases of cereal crops (especially maize) in Africa. From 1997 until 2001 she led the late blight program at the International Potato Center
International Potato Center
The International Potato Center is a root and tuber research-for-development institution located in Lima, Peru...
in Peru. She appeared in the KCTS public television documentary, Hot Potatoes, originally broadcast November 12, 2001.
She was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1998 http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.1301971/k.688B/Fellows_by_Domain_and_Area.htm
for her work in combating rice diseases and potato blight.
Nelson's parents were researchers at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
. She is married to NPR reporter Jonathan Miller and has two children, William and Benjamin.
Selected publications
- "Relationship between Phylogeny and Pathotype for the Bacterial Blight Pathogen of Rice," Nelson, Rebecca J. ; Baraoidan, Marietta R. ; Cruz, Casiana M. Vera ; Yap, Immanuel V. ; Leach, Jan E. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 60, no. 9, (September 1994): 3275-3283.
- "The Role of Genomics Research in Improvement of 'Orphan' Crops," by Rebecca J. Nelson, Rosamond L. Naylor, and Molly M. Jahn. Crop Science, Vol. 44, November - December 2004: 1901-1904.
- Wisser, R.J., Balint-Kurti, P.J., and R.J. Nelson. 2005. The genetic architecture of disease resistance in maize: a synthesis of published studies. Phytopathology 96(2): 120-129.
- Wisser, R.J., Qi, S., Kresovich, S., and R.J. Nelson. 2005. Identification and characterization of regions of the rice genome associated with broad-spectrum, quantitative disease resistance. Genetics 169: 2277-2293.
- Andrade-Piedra, J., R. Hijmans, G. Forbes, W.E. Fry and R.J. Nelson. 2005. Simulation of potato late blight in the Andes. 1: Modification and parameterization of the LATEBLIGHT model. Phytopathology 95 (10): 1191-1199.
- Garry, G., A. Salas, G. Forbes, W. Perez, M. Santa Cruz, and R.J. Nelson. 2005. Host specialization not detected in isolates of Phytophthora infestans attacking wild and cultivated potatoes in Peru. European J. Plant Pathology 54: 740-748.
- Ortiz, O., Garrett, K. A., Heath, J. J., Orrego, R., and Nelson, R. J. 2004. Management of potato late blight in the Peruvian highlands: Evaluating the benefits of Farmer Field Schools and Farmer Participatory Research. Plant Disease 88: 15-44.
- Naylor, R.L., W. P. Falcon, R.M. Goodman, M.M. Jahn, T. Sengooba, H. Tefera, and R.J. Nelson. 2004. Biotechnology in the Developing World: A Case for Increased Investments in Orphan Crops. Food Policy 29(1): 15-44.
- R.J. Nelson, R.L. Naylor, M.M. Jahn. 2004. The role of genomics research in improvement of “orphan” crops. Crop Science 44: 1901-1904.
- Trognitz, F.C., P.M. Manosalva, D.O. Niño-Liu, Ma. del R. Herrera, M. Ghislain, B.R. Trognitz and R.J. Nelson. 2002. Plant defense genes associated with quantitative resistance to potato late blight in Solanum phureja x S. tuberosum hybrids. Mol. Plant-Microbe Interactions 15 (6): 587-597.
- Thiele, G., R. Nelson, O. Ortiz, and S. Sherwood. 2001. Participatory research and training: ten lesson from the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) in the Andes. Currents 27: 4-11.
- Nelson, R.J., Orrego, R., Ortiz, O., Mundt, M., Fredrix, M. and Vien, N.V. 2001. Working with resource-poor farmers to manage plant diseases. Plant Disease 85: 684-695.
- Perez, W.G., J.S. Gamboa, Y.V. Falcon, M. Coca, R.M. Raymundo and R.J. Nelson. 2001. Genetic structure of Peruvian populations of Phytophthora infestans. Phytopathology 91: 956-965.
- Garrett, K.A., R.J. Nelson, C.C. Mundt, G. Chacon, R.E. Jaramillo, and G.A. Forbes. 2001. The effects of host diversity and other management components on epidemics of late blight in the humid highland tropics. Phytopathology 91: 993-1000.
- Shanti, M.L., M.L.C. George, C.M. Vera Cruz, M.A. Bernardo, R.J. Nelson, H. Leung, J.N. Reddy and R. Sridhar. 2001. Identification of resistance genes effective against rice bacterial blight pathogen in Eastern India. Plant Disease 85: 506-512.
- Vera Cruz, C.M., J. Bai, I. Ona, H. Leung, R.J. Nelson, T.W. Mew and J.E. Leach. 2000. Predicting durability of a disease resistance gene based on an assessment of the fitness loss and epidemiological consequences of an avirulence gene mutation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 97(25): 13500-13505.
- Kumar, J., R.J. Nelson, and R. S. Zeigler. 1999. Population structure and dynamics of Magnaporthe grisea in the India Himalayas. Genetics 152: 971-984.
- Finckh, M. and R.J. Nelson. 1999. Phylogenetic and pathotypic analysis of bacterial blight race 3. European Journal of Plant Pathology 105 (8): 743-751.
- Chen, D., M. dela Vina, T. Inukai, D.J. Mackill, P.C. Ronald and R.J. Nelson. 1999. Molecular mapping of the blast resistance genes, Pi44(t), derived from a durably resistant rice cultivar. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 98: 1046-1053.