Thesis Title: Phenotypic Characterization and Marker Development for Non-Race 1 Verticillium Wilt Resistance in Two Tomato Recombinant Inbred Line Populations. As a Masters student based in Mills River, NC at the mountain horticultural crops research and extension center, my role was to phenotype two advanced Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) mapping populations with resistance to non-race one Verticillium wilt caused by the soil-borne vascular wilting pathogen V. dahliae. I then identified statistically significant linkage between Verticillium resistance and a morphological marker with potential for use in hybrid development, and a number of relevant QTLs with meaningful effects. I also took samples that led to the discovery of a irregular strain of Verticillium wilt that had not been found in NC before. I employed a root dipping pathology assay to assess the possible impact of the irregularity on our breeding material. Listed below are the major skills I have developed in the course of my MS degree, if I had to pick three I would highlight plant phenotyping in the field for multiple traits, "Tooth to tail"Computational Genomics- Including Genotypic data alignment through Bowtie2 (UNIX), reformatting through SAMtools (UNIX), QTL identification (GAPIT (R environment), TASSEL 5.0(UI),and some experience with GWASpoly(R environment)).

I led a project identifying novel sources of resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematodes, and became skilled in the art of applied nematology. I worked independently on soybean pathogen resistance, performing duties from selecting soybean varieties and recording their phenotype to various lab tasks such as detached leaf assays. I work in the lab, the greenhouses, and at my desk

My Undergraduate research is under Dr. Terri Long, researching the effects of iron deficiency on Arabidopsis, the genes that effect root differentiation in iron deficient soils, and the effect of iron deficiency on the three zones of roots- the meristematic zone, zone of elongation, and zone of differentiation. My responsibilities include Autoclaving materials, chemically sterilizing seeds, planting Arabidopsis seeds with a micro-pipette, bulking seeds, collecting seeds, laying out trays, and cleanup. Part of the lab is wet lab work, part is in the phytotron- a controlled environment for planting in soil.

Summer employment as a Tobacco pollinator under Dr. Ramsey Lewis. Tasks include pollinating, sample collection and prep, field maintenance, label printing, disease identification, travelling to the site, and much more.

Work involved migrating data from one database to another. Databases included: Argus, Trace, and XML files.

Manual Labor, Assisting in experimentation, tasks Varied from day to day. I was in the Aquatic weed management division.