College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

Click here to see a list of Paul Giordano's publications on Google Scholar.

Education:

M.Sc. 2010; Plant Pathology; Michigan State University, Advisor: Dr. Joseph M. Vargas Jr.

Thesis: Biology and pathogenicity factors of S. homoeocarpa and the effects of lightweight rolling on dollar spot disease incidence in creeping bentgrass putting greens.

B.S. 2008; Crop and Soil Sciences; Michigan State University

Current Project: Occurrence and identification of an emerging bacterial disease on creeping bentgrass caused by Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae. I am working to characterize both the epidemiology and infection mechanisms on turfgrass, as well as study the genetic divergence of the pathogen from other well known plant pathogenic Acidovorax species.

Research Interests:

Cultural, chemical, and molecular plant disease management, soil microbiology, plant-microbe interactions, epidemiology, innovative extension and education, turfgrass management


Recent Awards and Honors

2011     The CSSA G.O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award
2011     PSGSRS Oral Presentation Competition Winner (MSU)
2011     GCSAA Student Essay Competition Scholarship Recipient
2010     The James and Harriet Beard Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship


Recent Publications:

Giordano, P. R.,J. M. Vargas Jr., T. A. Nikolai, and R. Hammerschmidt. 2011. Timing and frequency effects of lightweight rolling on dollar spot disease in creeping bentgrass putting greens. Crop Science (in press).

Giordano, P. R. , J. M. Vargas, Jr., A. R. Detweiler, N. M. Dykema, and L. Yan. 2010. First report of a bacterial disease on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), caused by Acidovorax spp. in the United States. Plant Disease. 94:922.