Meet Alyssa Betts, an associate professor and extension specialist of plant pathology at the University of Delaware. Betts is currently the vice-chair of the FHB Management Research Area committee. Her research utilizes applied field research in combination with lab investigations to understand pathogen biology in order to reduce crop loss due to disease. Her research goal is to develop and support sustainable disease management strategies that can be shared through extension programming.

Advancing a Career in Plant Pathology from Nematology

Betts grew up in North Carolina loving plants. Unaware of career options involving plants, she began attending North Carolina State University as an engineering major. As a freshman, she began searching for undergraduate jobs around campus involving plants and discovered the Kelman Scholars program. Through this program she met Rick Davis whose nematology lab she then worked in for the next four years. Her interest in pursuing a career in plants was confirmed after taking an introduction to plant pathology class as a junior with David Shew.

Betts completed her M.S. and Ph.D. at North Carolina State University under the mentorship of David Shew first studying fungal and oomycete pathogens of tobacco and turf grass and then the multiple diseases of stevia, which at the time was an emerging U.S. crop.

Combining Efforts to Develop Solutions for Farmers

Betts joined the University of Delaware in October of 2018 and one of her first projects was to plant wheat and join in with the USWBSI in 2019 for the growing season. She enjoys being a part of the USWBSI Integrated Management Coordinated Project where the researchers can combine data from multiple site years and evaluate robust data sets to figure out timely solutions for farmers. She also enjoys seeing the additive effect of management practices such as combining host resistance with fungicide use to manage FHB.

Interacting with Farmers to Learn Their Needs

Bett’s holds a 70% extension appointment, so her main focus is interacting with farmers and stakeholders. She encourages graduate students and post-docs to talk with farmers and get out into the field whenever they can. One can easily get focused in on their specific area of research but, she believes being out in the field allows you to put context to your work, develop research questions, and build important connections.

For more information about Dr. Alyssa Betts's research, visit her faculty page.

To learn more about others in the FHB community, check out all the previous USWBSI Featured Researchers/Advocates.