Karan Chahal, MS, PhD 🍄🌳🔬🧫🧬🧪🐞
@Karan_PlantPath
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#PlantPathology, Entomology & Mycology🍄🐞🌳🌾🌽 #ForestPathology @MSU_PSM |@PAU_LDH & @UTKnoxville alum |#Equestrian 🏇 #Farming| #Lactovegetarian #Respect4all
United States
Joined March 2019
🎃👻 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
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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!
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#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!
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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
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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
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Around two dozen trees have already died, and without quick action, this chestnut orchard could become a graveyard of trees. Chestnuts appear as vulnerable to oak wilt as red oaks, dying within 4–6 weeks. A déjà vu of #LaurelWilt in Florida’s avocado orchards. @ClinicPlant 2/4
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🌳 #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
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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! https://t.co/xC3oR1DaJX
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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
#TreesOnTheTrip #1 That moment when Forest Pathology thoughts jump in… It’s been about a month, I was driving along I-80 E near the Pennsylvania–New York border. As usual, we tend to notice what our...
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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
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A great plant pathologist with strong enthusiasm and well-rounded skills ranging from population genetics to field-level extension work, is looking for a postdoc. If you're hiring one, be sure to reach out to @HatlenRoss for a chat!
Any plant pathologist need a post doc? Check out this thread of my skills and accomplishments!
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“cowboy style,” I meant horse knows the job, even if the rider doesn’t, especially compared to English riding! They’re warm/hot bloods and usually aggressive, but surprisingly well-behaved under saddle. Honestly, it’s probably just in their genes, we didn’t train them much!
@CimaronH Hah! Thanks for sharing! I think we’ve got an “Oak Mania” going on! Not sure that term exists, but our version of “Tulip Mania"! Rodeo?! That sounds like a blast. I’m also crazy about horses and really miss mine back home in India. Sharing a few pictures we ride cowboy style too!
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California is just gorgeous especially its oak-dominant landscapes, yes, I’m biased, oaks are my weakness! From oak savannas to dense woodlands and oak-conifer forests, it’s breathtaking. My favorite? Those golden pastures with iconic live oaks. 🌳🌾#Dendrophile #OakSavanna
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Nancy Sharma, @Nancy_PhytoPath, presenting at #ASMicrobe2025! She is sharing her research on sub-lethal fungicide exposure and its effects on spore germination and gene expression in the grape powdery mildew pathogen. 🍇🧬@ASMicrobiology @MSUAgBio @Tmiles_MSU #plantdisease
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Field work is a blast with an amazing lab crew! Huge thanks to @PPhillipsAg, @AG__McCoy, and Jamie Walker for the awesome help setting up this unique experiment with bioformulations. Excited to track sclerotia degradation across treatments! @MartinChilvers1
Sclerotina sclerotial degradation study in the ground thanks to @MorganGoodnight and @mizuno_monica. We are ready to collect data as part of a NCSRP project w/@BisonBeanDoc and @badgercropdoc
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The Michigan study will also kick off next week! Excited to see sclerotia degradation in the soil in action! @MartinChilvers1 @AG__McCoy
Wisconsin study will go in next week! This is a new way of thinking about reducing white mold pressure!
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The sap flow sensors are up and already transmitting data! We're super proud of Ethan Wachendorf for designing and leading this experiment. Excited to see the effect of sap flow rate on disease progression and vice versa. #oakwilt #sapflow #transpiration #wilt
Feels great to be back in the woods, a place that was part of my PhD journey @Tmiles_MSU . Today helping Ethan, a grad student with @MartinChilvers1, as we work on oak wilt. Showing him how to spot fungal mats and tagging more oaks for our summer experiments. #forestpathology
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Feels great to be back in the woods, a place that was part of my PhD journey @Tmiles_MSU . Today helping Ethan, a grad student with @MartinChilvers1, as we work on oak wilt. Showing him how to spot fungal mats and tagging more oaks for our summer experiments. #forestpathology
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We are offering cost shares for Texas landowners to suppress the spread of oak wilt through the Texas Oak Wilt Suppression Program. Eligible suppression practices through this program include trenching or removal of infected red oak trees. 👉More: https://t.co/jqqjVB0imn
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A field day, saved from sunburn by thick clouds! We were out inoculating #wheat and #barley plots with Fusarium Head Blight and foliar pathogens. One of those days when the whole lab gets it done, many teammates not in the pictures! #AppliedWork #PlantPathology #PlantDisease
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