Staff
Dept. Plant, Soil & Microbial Sciences and Dept. Forestry
August 2016- present
August 2016- present
Dr. Sakalidis is an Assistant Professor in Forest Pathology in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences and the Department of Forestry at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the use of genomic tools in conjunction with traditional pathology tools to mitigate and respond to forest tree diseases (detection, identification, pathogenicity and population analysis). She is particularly interested in emerging endemic and exotic invasive pathogens.
Dr. Sakalidis received her PhD in her hometown of Perth, Western Australia at Murdoch University where she worked on pathogens that affected eucalyptus, baobab and mango trees. During this period she also spent time conducting research at the Forestry and Biotechnology Institute at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She spent the last five years working as a post-doctoral fellow on the TAIGA project at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada working on a Septoria canker and leafspot disease of poplar.
The Sakalidis lab is currently focusing on oak wilt, white pine and spruce decline but is always on the lookout for new problematic tree diseases in forested and urban settings.
Check out Dr. Sakalidis’s Google Scholar Page.
Education
Postdoc, University of British Columbia, Canada
PhD, Murdoch University, Australia
BSc(Hons), Murdoch University, Australia
Contact
Phone: + 1 (517) 432-0825
Email: sakalidi [@] msu.edu
MSU PSM Faculty Profile
MSU PSM Faculty Profile
Carmen Medina Mora
Professional Aide and Laboratory Technician
Dept. Plant, Soil & Microbial Sciences and Dept. Forestry
Nancy Sharma
Research Assistant
Since Spring 2018
Tina Guo
Student Research Assistant
Since Summer 2018
Jia-Yi Chan
Student Research Assistant
Hausbeck & Sakalidis Labs since Summer 2017
Post-Docs
Keumchul Shin
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
Research: Pathogen detection and diagnostics development and fungicide screening
Since Fall 2017
Students
Julian Camilo Bello Rodriguez
PhD student
Research: population genetics of cucurbit and hop downy mildew.
Hausbeck & Sakalidis Labs since Fall 2016
Clarice Esch
PhD Student
Research: Legacy effects of plant-soil feedbacks in black cherry trees
Kobe lab since Fall 2014, Sakalidis lab since Fall 2016
Katie Minnix
PhD student
Research: eastern white pine
Sakalidis & McCullough Labs since Spring 2017
Karandeep Chahal
PhD Student
Research: Oak Wilt
Since Fall 2017
Olivia Morris
Masters Student
Research: Oak Wilt
McCullough lab since Summer 2017, Sakalidis lab since Spring 2018
Arriving Soon
Becky Harkness
PhD Student
Research: Soil Health & Community Analysis
Sundin and Sakalidis Lab since Fall 2018
Past Lab Members
Gabdiel E. Yulfo-Soto
SROP Intern
Research: Biocontrol of Spruce Decline
Summer 2018
Molecular characterization of Diaporthe spp. on Colorado Blue Spruce (Pieceae pungens) in Michigan
Summer 2017
Louis S Radecki
Lab Technician
Summer 2017- Spring 2018
Mayra Velen Buendia Velazquez
Visiting Scholar
Summer 2017
Jan Martin Wulff
Independent Study (undergraduate)
Research: Spruce Decline
Spring 2017
Phillip Kurzeja
Independent Study (graduate)
Research: Oak Wilt
Spring 2017