Austin Lien Email and Phone Number

Contribute to the development of integrated disease management strategies for sugarbeets in Minnesota and North Dakota through replicated small-plot field trials.Provide disease diagnostics for Minnesota and North Dakota sugarbeet growers by routinely isolating and identifying pathogens from infected sugar beets.Assist in understanding genetic diversity and fungicide-resistance mechanisms among pathogen populations through modern molecular applications.Communicate research findings with students, colleagues, growers, and agriculturists.

I completed an internship with Cornell University’s Summer Scholar program under the guidance of Dr. Adrienne Gorny in the EVADE lab supervised by Dr. Sarah Pethybridge where I aided in the development of species-specific PCR primers and assessed DNA extraction techniques for the accurate detection of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla from soil samples.