New Director of UNH Plant Diagnostic Lab Arrives

Ali is coming from The University of Georgia, where he has served as faculty and director of the Plant Molecular Diagnostic Lab in the Department of Plant Pathology, with a split appointment of research and extension. Here at UNH, Ali will serve as Director of the UNH Plant Diagnostic Lab, State Extension Specialist, and Associate Professor of Plant Pathology in COLSA’s Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems.

Ali completed his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in molecular plant pathology from Ehime University, Japan. Following a brief postdoctoral stint as the same university, he completed additional postdoctoral training at Ohio State University and Washington State University. As faculty at the University of Georgia, Ali has been working on applied epidemiology of major plant diseases effecting a range of crops and developing cost-effective rapid and accurate diagnosis methods. He is an active Extension educator and researcher. To date, Ali has published more than 50 manuscripts in internationally reputed peer-reviewed journals. Recently he has received Junior Faculty Awards for Excellence 2021 (Research category, UGA, Tifton Campus).

During his first months here, Ali will be putting the finishing touches on the brand new UNH Plant Diagnostic Lab which is currently under construction on the UNH Durham campus in Barton Hall. He will be working across several Extension teams, lending his expertise to the diversity of plant growers in the state.

Program Team Leader, Amy Papineau says, “We are thrilled to have Ali joining our team. He brings wide expertise that will benefit the state and the University. We are really excited by the creative ideas and enthusiasm that he brings.”