Congrats Nat on passing qualifying exam

Congrats to Nuttapon (Nat) who passed his qualifying exam this week and is now a PhD Candidate. Along with Derreck he is the second Plant Pathology graduate student in the lab and is working towards his PhD on microbial diversity of cryptogamic or biological soil crusts found in the desert. His primary research area is Joshua Tree National Park and desert areas in the UC Reserve System. Nat and Jason have benefited greatly from collaboration with New Mexico State Univ Professor Nicole Pietrasiak who is an expert in crusts, desert algae, and did her PhD work in Joshua Tree which harbors tremendous diversity of biological soil crust types.[caption id=”attachment_1742” align=”alignnone” width=”1024”] Cross section of crust. Image by N. Pietrasiak[/caption]