Full Name
Erik Ohlson
Job Title
Research Geneticist
Company Name
USDA-ARS
Speaker Bio
Dr. Ohlson is a Research Geneticist in the USDA-ARS Corn, Soybean, and Wheat Quality Research Unit where he works on characterization and management of corn and soybean viruses. He received his PhD in Genetics from Penn State University where he mapped and studied tomato late blight resistance conferred by the wild tomato species, Solanum pimpinellifolium. As a postdoc at the University of Virginia, he worked with West African cowpea breeding programs to develop molecular breeding tools to manage important pests and pathogens. His research program currently focuses on identifying and characterizing mechanisms of virus resistance in corn and soybean to pathogens including High Plains wheat mosaic, maize dwarf mosaic, maize chlorotic mottle, and bean pod mottle viruses.
Erik Ohlson