Kamal Chhetri

Kamal is a Plant Pathology PhD student with a background in molecular plant biology, plant breeding, and pathology.

• PhD in Plant Pathology: 2023-Present Ph. D. Student (Plant pathology), Virginia Tech
• Master of Science in Biotechnology (2021 - 2023), West Virginia State University, Institute, West Virginia, United States.
• Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (2015 - 2019), Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

• Kamal's research focuses on evaluating fungicide efficacies, studying corn leaf endophytes, determining the microbial community of corn leaf endophytes in response to foliar fungicides, unveiling airborne fungal pathogen communities in corn fields, and building a fungicide application decision support tool for improved management of Tar spot disease of corn.

a. Posters and Oral Presentations

• Chhetri, K., Bishop, C., Clark, B., Langston, D., Zeng, Y. 2024. Evaluation of effects of foliar fungicide treatments and hybrid susceptibility on major corn foliar diseases in Virginia. Plant Health 2024, Memphis, TN.
• Chhetri, K., Zeng, Y. 2023. Can corn foliar disease be outwitted? Fungicide decision in corn production. TPSC Symposium, Blacksburg, VA.
• Chhetri, K., Ghimire, D., Payne, D., and Liedl, B. E. (2022). "Would the Real Cherokee Purple Please Stand up? Challenges in Using Vintage Varieties." [Poster Presentation] PAG30, San Diego, CA.
• Ghimire, D., Chhetri, K., Payne, D., and Liedl, B. E. (2022). "Roadblocks to Improving Vintage Tomato Varieties." [Poster Presentation] PAG30, San Diego, CA.
• Chhetri, K., Ghimire, D., Gautam, S., Payne, D., and Liedl, B. E. (2022). “Challenges in Selecting a Seed Source to Use for Improving Vintage Tomato Varieties.” [Oral presentation] ASHS, Chicago, IL.

b. Peer‑Reviewed Publications

• Pun, L. B., Chhetri, K., Pandey, A., & Poudel, R. (2020). "In vitro Evaluation of Botanical Extracts, Chemical Fungicides and Trichoderma harzianum Against Alternaria brassicicola Causing Leafspot of Cabbage." Nepalese Horticulture, 14(1), 68–76.