Louise-Marie Dandurand

University of Idaho nematologist and plant pathologist Louise-Marie Dandurand serves as Project Director of the $3.2 million Globodera Alliance Coordinated Agricultural Project (GLOBAL) funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

In addition to being Project Director for GLOBAL, Dr. Dandurand directs the University of Idaho’s Pale Cyst Nematode Project, providing leadership and coordination of the University’s program for research on, and eradication of, the pale cyst nematode (PCN: Globodera pallida), a quarantine pest of potato found only (within the U.S.) in the state of Idaho. Specific areas of her research focus on 1) use of trap crops alone and in combination with biological control agents to decrease populations of G. pallida; 2) use of biofumigants (Brassica juncea seed meal) to control G. pallida; 3) understanding determinants of virulence and their implication in development of resistance; and 4) screening and developing potato varieties with resistance to Globodera. Other responsibilities include support to the USDA-APHIS and ISDA eradication program by conducting all bioassays for PCN cyst viability following nematicide treatments in quarantined fields, for deregulation of previously infested fields. Dr. Dandurand received her PhD in Plant Pathology from the University of California, Riverside, in 1990. She joined the Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences Department at the University of Idaho in 1991.