Description
Conduct research on the causes, biology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of plant diseases affecting crops, forests, and ornamentals. Develop and implement integrated disease management strategies, support breeding for resistance, advise on phytosanitary standards and biosecurity, and assess how environmental and cultural practices influence disease and crop health.
- • Communicate research findings and disease advisories to growers, industry, and the public; teach related courses or workshops.
- • Provide field- and lab-based diagnoses of plant diseases and recommend integrated management strategies.
- • Investigate how cultivation, irrigation, rotation, and other practices influence disease incidence and severity.
- • Develop integrated disease management programs combining cultural, biological, and chemical controls.
- • Conduct trials to evaluate and develop disease-resistant cultivars in collaboration with breeders.
- • Trace sources and pathways of pathogens in soil, seed, water, or plant material and assess impacts.
- • Characterize pathogen survival, dispersal, and overwintering in soils and on plant surfaces to guide risk assessments.
- • Develop and validate rapid diagnostic assays and sampling protocols.
- • Study pathogen life cycles, host-pathogen interactions, and epidemiology under field and controlled conditions.
- • Identify disease outbreaks and design remediation plans such as sanitation, soil disinfestation, or crop rotation.
- • Survey and map disease distribution for surveillance, early warning, and management planning.
- • Quantify pathogen populations and plant-associated microbiomes using culture-based and molecular methods.
- • Advise on phytosanitary regulations, quarantine measures, and seed or plant health standards.
- • Develop and test fungicides, bactericides, nematicides, biologicals, or RNA-based products, and manage resistance.
- • Optimize planting, irrigation, canopy management, harvest, and storage practices to minimize disease and postharvest losses.
- • Consult on greenhouse, nursery, and irrigation system design to reduce pathogen spread and improve sanitation.
- • Evaluate soil amendments, cover crops, solarization, or fumigation for disease suppression.
- • Study disease vectors and transmission pathways and recommend strategies to limit spread.
- • Identify and classify plant pathogens using morphological, serological, and genomic techniques.
- • Conduct seed pathology and postharvest pathology studies to reduce contamination and spoilage.
- • Assess disease risks and management needs in urban landscapes, turf, forests, and ornamental nurseries.
- • Evaluate composting, heat treatment, or other sanitation practices for pathogen inactivation.
- • Design and implement biosecurity, waste disposal, and decontamination protocols for diseased materials.
- • Lead surveillance, containment, and eradication efforts during emerging disease incursions.
- • Investigate plant immune signaling, pathogen effectors, and environmental effects on disease expression.
- • Model disease risk and create decision-support tools for timely management.
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
