I See Dead Plants

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Stephen Biles of Texas A&M University and Dr. Isaac Esquivel of University of Florida. They talk the new insect pest pasture mealybug and how it affects pasturelands in the southern united states. Additional Resources https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/pasture-mealybug/ https://midcoastipm.blogspot.com/?m=1 https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/pasture-mealybugs/ https://www...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Wade Webster of North Dakota State University. They discuss soybean white mold, disease forecasting models and the use of AI in agriculture. Additional Resources https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/crop-disease-forecasting Chapters 00:42 Introduction to Plant Pathology and White Mold Research 03:13 Diversity of Crops in North Dakota 05:40 Wade's Journey into Plant P...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Jack Reisselman of Montana State University. They discuss the longtime Montana PBS program Montana Ag live . Additional Resources https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFz2HaLWoSAOxqr4NdtypRyirvYZAK895   Chapters Zaworski, E. (Host) and Riesselman, J. (Interviewees). S5:E19 (Podcast). From the Field to the Phone Lines: Montana Ag Live. 10/14/2026 . In  I See Dead...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Boris Camiletti of the University of Illinois. The topic is red crown rot of soybeans, new research findings, updated distributions and more. Additional Resources https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.11.744294v1.full.pdf https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/epdf/10.1094/PDIS-04-26-0811-RE https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdf/10.1094/PDIS-07-25-1424-SC...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Issac Esquivel of the University of Florida, Dr. Phillip Roberts of the University of Georgia and Dr. Scott Graham of Auburn University. They discuss the ongoing surveillance and damage caused to cotton by the cotton jassid or two-spot cotton leafhopper. Additional Resources https://stop2scl.org/cotton/ https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/crop-production/alabama-cott...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Emily Bick of the University of Wisconsin Madison. They discuss the work of Emily's lab with regards to the insect eavesdropper project . Tune in to learn how we can listen to insects inside of plants and how it might help farmers. Additional Resources https://www.bicklab.com/home https://www.npr.org/2024/09/02/nx-s1-5096781/short-wave-insect-eavesdropper   Time S...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr Sylvain Charlebois who studies food distribution at Dalhousie University. They discuss economics, logistics, the power of the consumer and more. Additional Resources   Time Stamps 00:00 – Introduction: Why Food Distribution Matters 03:45 – How the Modern Food Supply Chain Works 10:30 – What Drives the Price of Food? 17:20 – Plant Diseases Through the Eyes of a Food...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Jeri Barak of the University of Wisconsin. They discuss the work of Jeri and her lab on food safety and how in some instances plant pathogens can increase the chances that you encounter a human pathogen when eating fresh produce. Additional Resources https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.01330-22 https://journals.asm.org/doi/epub/10.1128/aem.01311-24   Time Sta...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Rachel Vann of the University of Illinois. They talk about Rachel's experiences with extension in different regions as well as her work with the science for success program Additional Resources https://resources.ipmcenters.org/resource.cfm?rid=45271&vid=30391 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Y18p4N_UI&feature=youtu.be   Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Rache...

In this epsiode Ed, Maddle Henrickson and Zach Schum talk fireflies just in time for the the 4th! In this episode we talk firefly basics and speculate on recent firefly news.   Transcript

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Sebastian Eves-van den Akker of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. They discuss how Sebastian and his lab are using tech such a machine learning and 3d printing to gather data regarding plant parasitic nematodes. Additional Resources   List of Contributors: Siyuan Wei, Jie Zhou, Olaf Prosper Kranse, Unnati Sonawala, Gang Sun, Ziyang He, Beatrice Se...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Tom wolf of Agrimetrix research and training. They discuss spray drones past, current and future, with regards to agriculture. Additional Resources https://sprayers101.com/about/ Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Spray Drones and Pesticide Applications 00:55 Who Operates the Drones? 01:17 Challenges of Pesticide Application with Drones 11:10 Practical Applications...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Tom wolf of Agrimetrix research and training. They discuss spray drones past, current and future, with regards to agriculture. Additional Resources https://sprayers101.com/about/ Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Spray Drones and Pesticide Applications 02:21 Tom Wolf's Journey into Plant Sciences 10:28 Understanding Drones: Basics and Types 14:24 The Evolving Dron...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. David Shapiro-Ilan of the USDA-ARS. They discuss the work of David's lab using entomopathogenic nematodes as a form of biocontrol. Additional Resources https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=411611   Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Entomopathogenic Nematodes 03:21 Life Cycle and Mechanism of Action 06:19 Host Specificity and Target...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. José González-Acuña , recent Ph. D. graduate at Iowa State University. They discuss José's Thesis work on frogeye leaf spot and efforts to expand the ever growing library of plant disease predictive models. Additional Resources https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-46975-z#Sec14 https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/horttech/27/5/article-p710.xml https://cr...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. José González-Acuña , recent Ph. D. graduate at Iowa State University. They discuss José's Thesis work on frogeye leaf spot and efforts to expand the ever growing library of plant disease predictive models. Additional Resources https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-46975-z#Sec14 https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/horttech/27/5/article-p710.xml https://cr...

In this episode Ed interviews Fernando Garcia-Bastidas, also known as Dr. banana. They discuss banana production and the very destructive disease known as banana wilt.   Additional Resources https://www.keygene.com/banana-research-and-breeding-keygene/ https://linktr.ee/DrBananaGarcia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPEErJnErU   Time Stamps 00:00 Introduction to Bananas and Fernando's Journey 00:...

In this episode Ed interviews Brian Kelley of the Gathering Growth foundation. They discuss Brian's mission to photograph and document some of the nation's oldest and largest trees to raise awareness and preserve their legacy.   Additional Resources https://www.gatheringgrowth.org/ https://www.americanforests.org/champion-trees/ https://nationalchampiontree.org https://soundcloud.com/user-95426710...

In this episode Ed interviews Brian Kelley of the Gathering Growth foundation. They discuss Brian's mission to photograph and document some of the nation's oldest and largest trees to raise awareness and preserve their legacy.   Additional Resources https://www.gatheringgrowth.org/ https://www.americanforests.org/champion-trees/ https://nationalchampiontree.org https://soundcloud.com/user-95426710...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Sam Markell of North Dakota State University. They discuss the emerging threat of SCN in North Dakota and how the SCN coalition aims to combat this ever-present threat.   Additional Resources https://www.thescncoalition.com/   Time Stamps (00:00) Introduction to the ICDeadPlants Podcast (05:57) Understanding Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) (12:08) The Impact of SCN in...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Lauren Diepenbrock , Entomologist from University of Florida. They discuss the devastating and complicated insect/plant disease complex, citrus greening.   Additional Resources https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/research/citrus-production/disease-identification/citrus-greening-huanglongbing/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219424002990 Time Stamps (0...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Lauren Diepenbrock , Entomologist from University of Florida. They discuss the devastating and complicated insect/plant disease complex, citrus greening.   Additional Resources https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/research/citrus-production/disease-identification/citrus-greening-huanglongbing/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261219424002990 Time Stamps (0...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Danielle Mikolajewski a postdoctoral candidate in the plant pathology department at the University of Florida. Ed and Danielle discuss some of Danielle's Ph. D. research on chestnut blight and one of the methods being studied in attempt to bring back the American Chestnut; hypovirulence.   Additional Resources https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/13033/ Time Sta...

In this episode Ed interviews Dr. Adam Varenhorst of South Dakota State University. They discuss Adam's work with an emerging insect problem in soybeans, Sunflowers and other plants the dectes stem borer.   Additional Resources https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/118/5/2338/8177282 Time Stamps (00:00) Introduction to I See Dead Plants Podcast (01:24) Understanding the Dectes Stem Borer (03:29) Hi...

In this episode of Alternate Hosts Ed is Joined once again by Dr. Madeline Henrickson to interview Dr. Danielle Mikolajewski, post-doctoral candidate at University of Florida. In order to get you into the holiday spirit they discuss the disease that whipped out the American Chestnut and left us all wondering what chestnuts roasting on an open fire may have been like. Thanks for listening and Happy...