Biosecurity Research Institute

Barbara Valent

Barbara ValentEducation

  • B.A. Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1972
  • Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1978
  • Post Doctoral Associate NIH Post-doctoral Fellow, Cornell University, 1980 - 1982

Positions

  • University Distinguished Professor, Kansas State University, 2002 – Present
  • Professor of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, 2001 – 2002
  • Research Fellow, DuPont Agricultural Products, 1997 - 2001
  • Research Scientist progressing to Research Manager Plant Sciences, DuPont Central Research and Development, 1985 - 1997
  • Senior Research Associate, Chemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1982 - 1985

Synergistic Activities

1. Rice Blast Community Service: Organizing Committee, 5th International Rice Blast Congress, Arkansas, Aug., 2010; Chair of Rice Blast Genetics Policy Committee since 2001; Co-Chair, 4th International Rice Blast Congress, Hunan, China, October 2007; Advisory Board, NSF PGRP Project “Functional Genomics of M. grisea” (2001-2005); NSF Co-PI, Community annotation of the fungal genome, Magnaporthe grisea-Oryza sativa Interaction Database (http://www.mgosdb.org/).
2. Wheat Blast: Project Director - USDA NIFA AFRI Plant Biosecurity Project to prepare for potential introduction of wheat blast, a significant new disease in South America, into the US. Team members from KSU and USDA-ARS are working with collaborators in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay to assess susceptibility in U.S. wheat varieties (in BSL3 containment in the U.S. and in field trails in South America), and to develop molecular diagnostics and web tools and training workshops for first responders. Participant - 1st International Wheat Blast Workshop in Brazil, 2010. Founding member - International Wheat Blast Consortium to coordinate global wheat blast research. Project Leader - Development of the Recovery Plan for Wheat Blast Disease for the National Plant Disease Recovery System, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9.

3. Selected service to Professional Societies: American Phytopathological Society – Member of Awards and Honors Committee, 2011-2014; AAAS – Member-at-Large, Sec. O (Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources) since 2009; Member/Chair of Electorate Nominating Committee of Section O (Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources), 1997-1999.

4. Selected National and International Committees and Boards: Selection jury for the Wolf Prize in Agriculture (2000-2001); Board of Trustees, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), 1999-2006; Scientific Advisory Board, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany since 2009; Non-Resident Fellow, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Inc, Plant Biology Division since 2009.

5. Chair - Kansas State University Interdepartmental Genetics Program since 2004. Major Professor for 4 graduate students (all have completed PhDs at KSU), 12 post-doctoral fellows, 6 undergraduates and 2 exchange students (from Korea and Germany). At KSU, served on graduate student committees for 23 PhD or MS students. Current Teaching: Fungal Genetics (PLPTH927); Resistance to Plant Disease (PLPTH755); Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions (PLPTH910).

  • Selected by the KSU Department of Plant Pathology graduate students as the first recipient of their new “Mentor Award” (2010)
  • Richard R. Nelson Memorial Lecture, Department of Plant Pathology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (2010)
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007)
  • Fellow, American Phytopathological Society (2007)
  • Whetzel-Wescott-Dimock Distinguished Lecturer, Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2006)
  • 1st Annual John S. Karling Lecture, Mycological Society of America, Joint annual meeting of the MSA and the American Phytopathological Society Meetings (1996)
  • Garrett Memorial Lectureship, Annual Meeting of the British Society of Plant Pathology, Lancaster, United Kingdom (1994)
  • Opening Plenary Session Lecture, “Rice blast as a model system for plant pathology,” Annual meeting of the American Phytopathological Society, August 21, Richmond, VA (1989)