09/04/2026
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐น๐น: ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
For Ph.D. student Lis Porto, this summer brought a change of sceneryโand a chance to experience plant pathology from a new perspective.
With support from the APS Foundation Tarleton Fellowship, Lis spent part of her summer at Cornell AgriTech, working alongside Dr. Kerik Cox and his lab. Stepping outside of her Ph.D. research at the University of Florida allowed her to see how another plant pathology program approaches research, extension and disease management.
And she jumped right in.
Lis worked across several tree fruit pathology projects, gaining hands-on experience with apple powdery mildew, apple scab and fungicide resistance. But the exchange went both ways. Lis brought her own strawberry pathology experience into the lab, contributing to work with Neopestalotiopsis, Botrytis and Colletotrichum. She also presented a seminar on her Ph.D. research on Neopestalotiopsis in strawberry to the Cornell community, sharing her work and gaining perspectives from researchers outside her usual program.
Outside the lab, Lis made the most of her time in New York, exploring the Finger Lakes region, building new friendships and getting to know the Cornell AgriTech community.
The experience came at an important point in Lisโs Ph.D. journey as she prepared for her qualifying examโand ultimately gave her much more than a new set of research skills.
โ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ข ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ.โ
Lis shared her gratitude to Dr. Cox and his lab for welcoming her, to her Ph.D. advisors Dr. Natalia Peres and Dr. Marcus Marin for supporting the opportunity, and to Dr. David Gadoury, whose support and Cornell connection helped make the internship possible. She is also grateful to the The American Phytopathological Society for investing in opportunities that allow graduate students to expand their training and build new collaborations.
Weโre proud to see Lis embracing opportunities that broaden her experience and help shape her growth as a scientist. ๐
