Fulbright Scholar 2015

In 2014 I was selected as the winner of the Fulbright Queensland Fellowship, enabling me to take 9-12 months during my PhD to be based at a research institution of my choice in the USA. I chose to go to the University of California Berkeley to be based at the Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory under the guidance of Prof. Matteo Garbelotto. I was there from August 2015 to April 2016. My alumni profile can be found here. For more information about the Fulbright program, see here.

PCO plot of Parkinsonia aculeata fungal endophyte community data showing separation of samples by disease status (healthy = green, dieback = red).

Project work

I worked on two projects while at UC Berkeley with Prof Matteo Garbelotto. Both projects used MiSeq Illumina sequencing, under the guidance of Dr Dylan Smith to characterize the endophytic microbial communities (fungal, Oomycete and bacterial) of Parkinsonia aculeata.

The first project compared microbial communities in healthy populations vs. dieback-affected populations. The aim was to find OTUs (i.e. microbial species) unique to dieback-affected plants to further identify them as the pathogen(s) responsible for dieback.

Composition of the fungal community was shown to vary significantly with health status. Fusarium, Neurospora and Phoma and were found and identified as potentially pathogenic fungal genera typical of dieback-affected Parkinsonia .

The second project compared introduced Parkinsonia (sampled in Australia) and native-range Parkinsonia (sampled from southern USA), as well as two other co-occurring Parkinsonia species (P. microphylla and P. florida). This was based on the invasion ecology theories of endophyte-enemy release.

I found significant variation in endophyte community composition by host species and range for fungal OTUs. However the results suggested that dieback in the invasive range is not associated with the loss of potentially beneficial endophytes upon introduction of P. aculeata to Australia

The Fulbright Experience

My year in the USA was an experience like no other and I benefited greatly from all I was able to learn and the wonderful people I encountered. In the spirit of Fulbright I was also able to share my perspectives, culture, experiences and connections with all those I met. I continue to encourage researchers - particularly EMCRs - to participate in the Fulbright program and I have mentored several applicants to becoming successful Fulbrighters.

Fulbright Australia published an article about my experience in 2017. This provided a great summary of my experience and the opportunities afforded to me by the Fulbright program. See the article below, or go to the online "Minds & Hearts" magazine here.

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