Catalina Salgado-Salazar

Catalina Salgado-Salazar

Councilor in Systematics/Evolution Nominee

Dr. Catalina Salgado-Salazar is a Research Mycologist in the Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory (MNGDBL), part of the Agricultural Research Service (USDA) in Beltsville, MD. She received a B.S. and M.S. in Biology in Colombia from the Universidad del Cauca and Universidad de los Andes, respectively and earned a PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. While there, she participated as student in an NSF PEET (Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy) grant under the supervision of Dr. Priscila Chaverri. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the systematics and taxonomy of several genera in the Nectriaceae (Hypocreales, Ascomycota). After earning her PhD, Dr. Salgado-Salazar accepted a Postdoctoral Research Associate position located at USDA ARS in Beltsville, MD, under the supervision of Dr. Jo Anne Crouch (MNGDBL), working on newly emergent fungal and oomycete diseases of ornamental plants. Her current research focuses on the development of systematics knowledge for the identification and classification of fungi that impact plant health. Dr. Salgado-Salazar has co-authored over 38 publications and is the nomenclatural authority on 55 described species of fungi and oomycetes. She has been member of MSA since 2009, has served as reviewer for Mycologia and numerous of other journals, is an associate editor for the journal Plant Disease, and has received the Clark T. Rogerson Award and the M.B. Bigelow Mentor Student Travel Award from MSA.