Congratulations to our 2025 APS Foundation Awardees!
Nearly $62,000 was awarded to 84 APS members in 2025. Funding for these awards and opportunities are made possible through the generous donations received from our Foundation Donors, thank you!
Plant Health 2025 Symposia for APS Student and Early Career Members
I.E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium
Supports APS Graduate Student members to present at the Melhus student symposium at Plant Health 2025.
Alexi Dong, University of Georgia
Samodya Jayasinghe, Washington State University
Jaden King, Auburn University
Harshita Saxena, University of Georgia
Schroth Faces of the Future Symposium
Supports four APS Early Career members to present in a specific area of plant pathology research in the "Faces of the Future" symposium held at Plant Health 2025.
Andres Espindola, Oklahoma State University
Kiran Gadhave, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Alejandro Olmedo-Velarde, Iowa State University
Jennifer Wilson, USDA ARS
Plant Health 2025 Travel Awards
Student Travel Awards
Funding from the "Named" Student Travel Funds and General Student Travel Fund provided awards to the following APS Student Members presenting their research at Plant Health 2025.
Fred Ablormeti
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Junaed Ahmed
Clemson University
Srushtideep Angidi
North Dakota State University
Christ Mane Belizaire
University of Florida
Brooke Benz
North Dakota State University
Jobelle Bruno
Louisiana State University
Kamal Chhetri
Virginia Tech
Sarah Cochran-Murray
North Carolina State University
Myles Collinson
University of California-Davis
Dalvir Dhadly
University of Georgia
Qiurong Fan
Michigan State University
Alexander Fast
University of Florida
Luis Flores-López
Pennsylvania State University
Anupa Gaire
Oregon State University
Sandhya Gopisetty
Kansas State University
Sandeep Gouli
Louisiana State University
Ambrosia Havan
The Ohio State University
Mariana Herrera Corzo
University of Florida
Rachel Herschlag
Pennsylvania State University
Fidel Jiménez-Beitia
Michigan State University
Livleen Kaur
Pennsylvania State University
Mariah Kidd
North Carolina State University
Niño Laurel
University of Georgia
Austin Lien
University of Minnesota
Ching-Jung Lin
University of California-Davis
Rachel Livingston
Auburn University
Sunira Marahatta
Louisiana State University
Timothy Martin
Texas A&M University
Annabel Miller
Louisiana State University AgCenter
Jenna Moore
The Ohio State University
Eva Mulandesa
University of Florida
Kamal Neupane
Colorado State University
Samuel Osabutey
Pennsylvania State University
Anita Paneru
Washington State University
Gabriela Paredes
Oklahoma State University
João Vitor Pelizzaro Morales
Louisiana State University AgCenter
Rachael Plunkett
Oregon State University
Rashmi Pokhrel
University of Georgia
Mousami Poudel
University of Florida
Sarita Poudel
North Dakota State University
Mariana Prieto Torres
North Carolina State University
Usman Rabiu
Oklahoma State University
Catalina Rodriguez-Puerto
University of Arkansas
Nisha Rokaya
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Carlos Saint-Preux
Virginia Tech
Amit Sharma
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sunil Shrestha
North Dakota State University
Peihan Shu
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wily Sic-Hernandez
Purdue University
John Spafford
Michigan State University
Evan Tamayo
California Polytechnic State University
Sean Wang
University of Florida
Jiawen Wen
University of Florida
Mingxi Zhou
University of Florida
International Travel Fund
The APS Office of International Programs (OIP) International Travel fund provides financial support to APS members who are scientists holding post-graduate positions in their respective country that are confirmed to present, to attend the APS annual meeting.
Jessa Ata, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines
Ummad-ud din Umar, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan
Books for the World Program
Helps scientists, educators, extension personnel, and other agriculturalists in developing countries acquire educational materials from APS PRESS.
Faith Ayobami Bankole, Nigeria
Cesar Escalante and John Bonkowski, El Salvador
Sabina KC, Nepal
Ayoub Maachi, Morocco
Niranjan Mahadevan, Sri Lanka
K. Prasannath, Sri Lanka
Browning Plant Medicine and Health Travel Fund
Supports travel of an APS Graduate Student Member majoring in the Doctor of Plant Medicine, Doctor of Plant Health, or similar programs, who plans to attend and participate in a professional society meeting other than APS.
- Thomas Wilbur Davis, Doctor of Health Program, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Frank L. Howard Undergraduate Fellowship Fund
This fund supports undergraduate research projects in plant pathology.
- Abigail Scott, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Mathre Education Award
Provides support to plant pathology education and outreach programs.
- Amanda McVay, University of Florida
Student Education Scholarship
Provides support for student endeavors which further their education outside of the APS Annual Meeting.
- Amy Twohig, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry
John & Ann Niederhauser Endowment (JANE) International Cooperation Research Fund
Supports international cooperation related to research on and management of plant diseases between a person or institution in the U.S. and a person or institution outside the U.S. with funding priority to developing economy countries.
- Wadzani Dauda Palnam, Federal University Gashua, Nigeria
Global Experience Program
The APS Office of International Programs (OIP), with support from APS Foundation, sponsors the OIP Global Experience, a program aimed at helping APS members who are plant pathologists to work with scientists and extension personnel in developing countries in training and outreach efforts.
Megan McCaghey, University of Minnesota
Mustafa O. Jibrin, Oklahoma State Univeristy
Steven C. Nelson Early Career Development Fellowship
Provides support for early career plant pathologists in broadening their professional development through experiential learning and leadership opportunities.
- Anugya Bhyattarai, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
Plant Pathology Experiential ProgramThe APS Office of Private Sector Relations (OPSR), with support from APS Foundation, sponsors two Plant Pathology Experiential funds that promote career and research development experience and opportunities with organizations classified within industry and/or government.
- Ernesto T. da Silva, Virginia Tech, Eastern Shore Agricultural Research & Extension (AREC)
Public Policy Fund
Supports the Public Policy Board's (PPB) intern activities or initiatives as approved by the PPB Board.
- Colin Todd, University of California, Riverside
Raymond J. Tarleton Student Fellowship
This fund provides support to plant pathology graduate students for expenses related to their research, equipment, education, and skills development.
- Natalia Piñeros-Guerrero, Cornell University
