Faculty

Dr. Catherine Cutter's research determines the prevalence of pathogens in foods, develops methods to sample and detect foodborne pathogens, and validates control measures for microbial contaminants in foods. She also researches food safety practices of food handlers and laboratory personnel. Dr. Cutter teaches in food safety–related Extension workshops/short courses for food industry professionals. She is a professor in the Department of Food Science and assistant director of food safety and quality programs, Penn State Extension, in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Dr. Ernest Hovingh is an associate research professor and Extension veterinarian at Penn State. His primary teaching/extension and discovery interests include population health and preventive medicine, as well as biosecurity and epidemiology. He conducts applied research projects on topics important to cattle health and welfare, as well as pre-harvest food safety, food quality, and anti-microbial resistance.

Dr. Seogchan Kang’s three main goals of research focus on improving biocontrol via enhanced understanding of chemical ecology underpinning plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions; advancing understanding of the molecular, cellular, and evolutionary mechanisms underpinning plant-fungal pathogen interactions; and supporting community research, education, and extension on plant diseases by archiving and disseminating phylogenetic and genomic data from major pathogen groups through web-based informatics platforms.

Dr. Gretchen Kuldau's work focuses on understanding mycotoxin development in grain and forage crops, with an emphasis on Fusarium toxins. Her approaches include fungal molecular genetics, greenhouse, growth chamber and field studies, use of chromatography for mycotoxin analysis, and general microbiology. She teaches courses in agricultural biosecurity and co-teaches a General Education course on fungi, titled "The Fungal Jungle."