Tera Pitman is a Staff Research Associate and laboratory manager for professor Bryce Falk in the plant pathology department at UC Davis. She has lead research on cucurbit-infecting Tobamoviruses including cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) since 2013, when the virus was initially discovered in California. Her work includes developing and validating diagnostic assays, biology and epidemiology of the disease, and genetic diversity of strains collected in California. Prior to CGMMV research, she worked on projects involving RNAi targeting Homalodisca vitripennis, the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter, an invasive pest and disease vector in grapevines and other perennial crops. She previously worked at UC Davis Foundation Plant Services in their diagnostics lab, where she performed plant diagnostic tests and helped validate diagnostic assays for diseases of grapevines and stone fruit trees.