Karan Chahal, MS, PhD 🍄🌳🔬🧫🧬🧪🐞

Glad to share that I’ve joined @RutgersU as a Postdoctoral Associate in Plant Biology & Urban Forestry. I’ll bridge plant pathology and urban forestry to build a forest pathology research & extension program for the “urban state’s” tree, forest, and nursery production challenges.

@Warlock_Aditya Sportsperson!!

Smriti is walking like she’s about to make a WWE ring entrance, Palash got lucky and escaped. x.com/Warlock_Hamza/…

Our oak wilt diagnostic guide was selected as an Editor’s Pick in @planthealthprog journal of @plantdisease. Check it out lnkd.in/efwQyCcN Great collaboration with Laura Miles (@MSUDiagnostics ,@MartinChilvers1 and Timothy Miles!

Hi Romina, @ClinicPlant, I found these baby guavas in New Jersey with beautiful lesions and thought to share. By the way, I loved the symptoms and couldn’t resist sharing the pictures. Pics don’t show real color. Plant pathologists’ affection for diseases… #StockholmSyndrome 😄

New Paper Alert! From Field to Publication: A New Visual Guide for Oak Wilt Diagnosis A Diagnostic Guide for Oak Wilt Disease in Oak and Chestnut | @plantdisease @planthealthprog apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.109…

Winter days in the Land of Spartans!

We're hiring! Join our team as Research Assistant II at the Field Crops Pathology Program. If you're passionate about plant disease research, field operations, and supporting innovative ag science, we want to hear from you. Deadline: Dec 30. @plantdisease careers.msu.edu/jobs/research-…

🎃👻 When corn decides to join Halloween… Left: “The Skeleton” ☠️ Middle: “Kernel Dracula” 🧛 Right: “Mold of the Dead” 🧟‍♂️ #HappyHalloween from the haunted side of field trials! #SpookyCorn #HalloweenHarvest #PlantPathology

@ClinicPlant @UFTropical @UFPlantPath @UF_IFAS @APS_PHC @APS_OIP @UF_IFAS_GFSI that's spooky stuff!

Day #4: Last day in #Anguilla 🇦🇮 We witness port inspection of fruit imports and looked for #posthavest diseases in local markets 🤓 @UFTropical @UFPlantPath @UF_IFAS @APS_PHC @APS_OIP @UF_IFAS_GFSI

Harvested about half of the trials, and our soybean payload is now in transit. Next stop: Agronomy farm MSU, where the data will spill the beans! These loads hold serious potential to answer key research questions. High value, high stakes, legume edition! @MartinChilvers1

#Harvest2025 (almost)! Our soybean research plots are all set, and the combine’s ready to roll. But the pods are still a bit moist and not shelling cleanly yet, they need to soak up little more sun to make them nice and brittle. Looks like it’s going to be a happening day!

Post a picture YOU took. Just a pic. No description.

I suspect an above-ground infection since no infected oaks were nearby. The grower never pruned chestnuts, so beetles spreading it through fresh wounds seems unlikely to him. After walking the orchard, I have a interesting theory on it, early to say yet, but stay tuned.🧬 4/4

Grower, a cheerful and witty man, joked: “I can’t keep up with you scientists playing with words and logic. I just want short, straightforward answer, otherwise, I’ll lose you halfway!” So here’s his million-dollar question: How did oak wilt get into this chestnut orchard? 3/4

🌳 #TreesOnTheTrip #2 Chestnut orchard turning into a graveyard of trees I visited a beautiful chestnut orchard in #Michigan, home to diverse hybrids and root–scion combinations. Sadly, oak wilt struck late last summer and is now spreading fast through grafted roots... 🧵👇1/4

@CimaronH @DanAllred1 Most probably indicating adverse weather conditions, was there heat, drought spell? Trees can't bare the load or energy needed to let all of the acorns mature/ripe.

@DanAllred1 @Karan_PlantPath you have any insight on this atypical oak tree behavior ?

Can't say I remember seeing the Red Oak tree in our yard drop acorns this early. Alot of them have worm holes. These don't but are green still. Don't think I ever seen that either. Tree probably trying to tell us something.

Thrilled to share that my diagnostic guide on #oakwilt is now in First Look @plantdisease @planthealthprog 👇 It provides tools to distinguish oak wilt from its many look-alikes, featuring 11 figures & 6+ years of field photos. So, plenty to look at! apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.109…

What's wrong with my oak tips!? Here is a tip on your oak tips: Sometimes the story behind a diagnosis is better than the diagnosis, like a thriller, but with more twigs and less cankers! Too much for one post, here’s the link: #PlantHealth2025 #BroodXIV linkedin.com/posts/karandee…

Corn field was looking immaculate, too immaculate! We pathologists don’t rest easy with spotless plants😉. So @MartinChilvers1 lab rolled in with a truckload of inoculum. Three leaf-spotting fungi, one mission. Just a bunch of plant pathologists doing what we do best. #Research