Jianjun (Jay) Hao

Expertise

🚜 Agriculture, 🍞 Food security, 🍄 Fungi, 👩‍🌾 Gardening, 🌿 Organic food production, 🦠 Pathogens, 🐛 Pests and parasites, 🥔 Potatoes, 🟫 Soils

Hao’s research is focused on the epidemiology and management of potato diseases. Major diseases include bacterial soft rot and blackleg (Dickeya and Pectobacterium spp.), common scab (Streptomyces spp.), late blight (Phytophthora infestans),and pink rot (Phytophthora erythroseptica). Hao also studies the microbiomes that are associated with soil and plant health, and beneficial microorganisms (or biological control agents) for managing plant diseases. Visit Hao’s biography to learn more.

A bubble graph showing a 70% research and 30% teaching appointment split.
Hao balances his time between teaching (30%) courses about plant pathology and food safety, and research (70%) on the potatoes diseases.

Appointment details

Hao’s work is supported by:

  • School of Food and Agriculture at the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture
  • Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station

Experiment Station contributions

  • Current project: Improving the Management of Potato Diseases Through Understanding Microbiomes and Pathogen Complex
  • Current project: Collaborative Potato Breeding and Variety Development Activities to Enhance Farm Sustainability in the Eastern US
  • Current project: Managing Plant Microbe Interactions in Soil to Promote Sustainable Agriculture