Kephas Mphande

Kephas is a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Gleason’s lab at Iowa State University, in the department of plant pathology and microbiology, majoring in Plant Pathology and co-majoring in Sustainable Agriculture. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural science from the University of Zambia. He worked in the extension services department as a field agronomist in Zambia for over five years, before he came to Iowa State University in 2018 on a Fulbright scholarship.
His research is focused on investigating the biology and pathogenicity of Serratia marcescens the causal organism of an emerging bacterial disease called cucurbit yellow vine disease (CYVD). He is also involved in field plant pathology, where he is looking at weed control methods and pollination strategies under mesotunnel systems for sustainable management of cucurbit pests and diseases.