Imana Power
Assistant Professor
302 Life Sciences Bldg. - LSU
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225-578-1381
Fax: 225-578-1415
Email: ipower@agcenter.lsu.edu
Postdoctoral Research Associate - National Peanut Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS – 2014 - 2016.
Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, University of Georgia (UGA) - May 2014.
MSc. (& BSc. combined) in Ecological Phytopathology, Wageningen University and Research center (WUR), The Netherlands - 2004.
Develop, optimize, and standardize screening methods to generate multiple-disease-resistant sweetpotato cultivars for the Louisiana sweetpotato industry.
Develop alternative methods for effective and economical management of postharvest diseases of sweetpotato, in particular Rhizopus soft rot and flood-associated soft rots, by understanding the different biological and environmental factors involved in soft rot development.
Develop management strategies for reducing sweetpotato cultivar decline.
National Clean Plant Network – Sweetpotato Louisiana Cooperative Agreement funded by USDA-APHIS
Disease Management in Sweetpotato in Louisiana funded by the Louisiana Sweet Potato Commission
Collaborations
CleanSEED: A Project to Ensure the Sustainability of US Sweetpotato Seed Programs. USDA-NIFA-SCRI
SweetARMOR: Rapid Development of Marketable Root-Knot Nematode Resistant Sweet potato Varieties: Translation of Genomics and Advanced Phenomics into On-Farm Crop Management Solutions. USDA-NIFA-SCRI
PLHL 4000 - General plant Pathology, Fall of odd years.
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Dr. Imana Power - Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor I am from Suriname, a country in South America, and received my MSc from Wageningen University in the Netherlands where I discovered my love for research in plant diseases and biological control. I earned my Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Georgia in 2014, and in September 2022 I started as Assistant Professor in Sweetpotato Pathology at LSU AgCenter. My research interests are finding sustainable disease management options. My research focus at the Sweetpotato Pathology Laboratory is to integrate applied and molecular techniques in research aimed at sustainable and durable disease management strategies of sweetpotato diseases. |
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Catherine DeRobertis – Lab Manager/ Research Associate Cathy joined the Sweetpotato Pathology Lab in January 2019 In the Power Lab, Cathy manages the research activities for the National Clean Plant Network. |
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Elaisa Tubana – Research Associate I am from the Philippines. I started as a student worker at LSU Plant Pathology and
Crop Physiology while finishing my bachelor's. After years of experience, I was hired
as a research associate between Mycology and Sweetpotato pathology lab in 2018. I
am in charge of maintaining the sweet potato tissue culture. |
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Francella Arce – Graduate student Francella joined the lab in Fall 2023. She will be working on optimizing and standardizing phenotyping sweetpotato storage rot disease screening, and on evaluating sweetpotato germplasm using previously developed SSR markers. |
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Clayton Blake – Graduate student Clayton joined the lab as an undergraduate student from the department of Agricultural Economics in 2020. In Spring 2024 he started as a graduate student in the lab and his research will focus on using hyperspectral imaging to detect virus-infected sweetpotato in the field. |
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Zoe Woody – Graduate student
Zoe joined the lab in Fall 2023 and her research is aimed at developing sensitive on-site molecular methods to detect sweetpotato viruses. |
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Student Workers: Rachel Gaurisco is an undergraduate student from the department of Biological Sciences and joined the lab in 2020. Naomi Cates is an undergraduate student from the department of Biological Sciences and joined the lab in 2022. Her Honors project is on silencing Rhizopus stolonifer genes.
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Interested in joining the lab? We are always interested in recruiting dedicated and curious researchers. Undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows excited by our research should directly contact Imana with the information listed below:
Postdoctoral Applicants
Note: We are currently accepting applications from Postdoctoral Fellows for the CleanSEED project, managed by Dr. Jeff Davis in the Entomology Department.
Please contact Imana with information on how to apply.
Graduate Applicants
Note: We do not currently have openings for graduate students applying for 2024.
Undergraduate Applicants
Note: We will have openings for undergraduate researchers in the Summer of 2024.
We encourage undergraduates to participate in our research program, even freshmen and sophomores early in their undergraduate careers. Please contact Imana or Cathy for more information.