Margot C. Becktell, Ph.D.
Cornell University, 2004
Office:
Wubben 266
Phone: (970) 248-1892
Email: mbecktel@mesastate.edu
Courses
- BIOL 101 and 101L
General Human Biology lecture and lab
- BIOL 101H General
Human Biology Honors
- BIOL 105 and 105L Attributes of Living Systems lecture
and lab
- BIOL 107 and 107L
Principles of Plant Biology
- BIOL 450 and 450L
Mycology
- BIOL 421 and 421L
Plant Physiology (Team taught with Dr. Kristy Duran)
- BIOL 499 Internship
Students
often ask me whether I have always wanted to teach. Well,
when considering career options, teaching was certainly at
the top of my list - but, I didn't rreally know until I had
the opportunity to try it. My first real experience with teaching
came in graduate school where I was a teaching assistant for
an undergraduate plant pathology course. I wasn’t sure
what to expect – what I found was that I got a real
thrill out of conveying what I knew about plant pathology
to the rest of the class. What I found was that it was fun!
After my experience as a TA, I hoped that I would have the opportunity to explore teaching as a career; I was particularly interested in teaching at a small college. I earned my undergraduate degree from a small, liberal arts college and appreciated the smaller class sizes and the interactions I had with my professors – that college was Mesa State. I now find myself teaching at my alma mater and feel very fortunate to have the chance to interact with students and stimulate an interest in science in the very place where I myself learned to love and appreciate science!
Research/Scholarly Interests
My current research involves looking at the efficacy of soilborne pathogens (Rhizoctonia spp. and Fusarium spp.) and flea beetles (Aphthona spp.) as biological control agents for the invasive weed, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula ). This project has been funded by the NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) and is being conducted in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Insectary in Palisade. Our current research plots are located in and around Meeker, CO (Rio Blanco County). The project involves many agencies and people including the DOW, the BLM, CSU Cooperative Extension, the Rio Blanco County Weed Department and at least 20 land owners/managers in the county.
The use of flea beetles as a biocontrol agent for leafy spurge is nothing new; what is new is the monitoring that we are doing at several of the most recent release sites. We have chosen 18 sites as monitoring sites. The monitoring involves taking soil samples, performing leafy spurge stem counts, determining the extent of the leafy spurge population, determining the extent of the beetle population, and determining the ecology (presence of grasses, forbs, woody species etc.) of each site. The sites we have chosen include a variety of aspects (north, south, east and west) as well as two hill tops and three wet areas on or near the river. Ten of the 18 sites also include environmental monitoring within the plant canopy (temperature and relative humidity) and the soil (soil temperature and soil moisture) near the beetle release site. The hope is that the data we gather from monitoring these 18 sites will help us understand how the beetles work in a variety of conditions and that this information will allow us to make better recommendations related to how well the beetles might work in a particular area.
An additional part of this project is to explore the possibility of using naturally occurring, soilborne pathogens to control leafy spurge. We are hoping to expand on similar work that has been done in Montana. This season we were able to isolate two fungi from symptomatic leafy spurge plants and the preliminary results suggest that they are the fungi we need. The next step is to characterize these fungi and confirm that they are, in fact, pathogenic on leafy spurge. The hope is to be able to apply the fungi to several of our monitoring sites to see if they will increase the efficiency of the biocontrol process. Previous work has shown that the beetles and the fungi work synergistically; as the beetle larvae feed on the roots, they create wounds that provide opportunities for the fungi to infect the plant.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Papers and Notes:
- Becktell, M. C., Daughtrey, M. L. and Fry, W. E. 2005. Epidemiology and management of petunia and tomato late blight in the greenhouse. Plant Dis. 89:1000-1008.
- Becktell, M. C., Daughtrey, M. L. and Fry, W. E. 2005. Temperature and leaf wetness requirements for pathogen establishment, incubation period and sporulation of Phytophthora infestans on Petunia x hybrida. Plant Dis. 89:975-979
- Becktell, M. C., Smart, C. D., Haney, C. H. and Fry, W. E. 2006. Host- pathogen interactions between Phytophthora infestans and the solanaceous hosts Calibrachoa x hybridus, Petunia x hybrida and Nicotiana benthamiana. Plant Dis. 90:24-32.
- Bruckart, III, W. L., Eskandary, F. M., Becktell, M. C., Bean, D. 2006. Puccinia acroptili on Russian knapweed in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. Plant Dis. 90:971.
Trade Journal Articles:
- Becktell, M. C., Daughtrey, M. L. and Fry, W. E. (2003). Beware of late blight on petunias and tomatoes. Greenhouse Business. June 2003: 31-32
- Daughtrey, M. and Becktell, M. (2002) Scary Phytophthoras. Grower Talks.
September 2002: 90, 92.
Published abstracts:
- Becktell, M. C., Daughtrey, M. L. and Fry, W. E. (2003). Temperature and moisture requirements for establishment, incubation period, latent period and sporulation of Phytophthora infestans on petunia. Phytopathology 93(6):S7.
- Rathbone*, M.C., Smart, C. D and Fry, W. E. (2001) Isolates of Phytophthora infestans that infect Petunia x hybrida and Nicotiana benthamiana also produce INF1. Phytopathology 92(6): S145.
Extension Publications:
- Becktell, M. C., Daughtrey, M. L. and Fry, W. E. (2002) Petunia late blight, an emerging disease? Focus on Floriculture, Cornell University. Volume 1, No. 2
* Maiden name
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