Current Graduate Students
Clayton Bania
MS/DPM Student
After spending some time in the workforce managing a hydroponic farm, I found the main shortcoming of my knowledge to be identification of pests and diseases. With dreams of owning my own farm one day, I constantly look to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can about farming plants. I looked to find suitable academic fits that would offer me the best opportunity to learn what I needed and found the DPM program to be exactly what I was looking for!
Sarah Birkmire
MS/DPM Student
Julia Rycyna
DPM Student
After graduating from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in Biology, I wanted to learn more about plants. I have always had a passion for plants but did not realize how I could make it my career. The DPM program has courses in multiple disciplines which appealed to my love of learning and made me realize that I need to know more than just the plant itself, but also pests and pathogens. Also being exposed to the world of agriculture (I am not from Florida, but Maryland) has also provided me with new ideas on where I may end up. While I am still unsure about my future career, I feel more confident than when I graduated from undergrad and have discovered a lot about myself from being in the program.
Heather Kalaman
MS/DPM Student
Heather Kalaman was born and raised in the sunny, swampy state of Florida. She received her A.A. degree from Valencia College and her B.S. degree from the University of Central Florida, where she studied Neotropical Ecology and Biology. It was during this time that her appreciation for plant health and conservation grew tremendously through an opportunity to study the flora and fauna of the Amazon basin and savannah regions of Guyana, South America with her first mentor, Professor Steve Myers. Following the completion of her bachelor’s degree, she spent four years traveling and working prior to pursuing higher education. Her travels brought her to India, Cuba, and across the U.S., while her professions included technical work in chemical and microbiology lab settings. Eventually, she moved to Gainesville in the Fall of 2018, where she was co-enrolled completing her M.S. in Environmental Horticulture as well as her Doctorate in Plant Medicine (DPM). She completed her M.S. thesis work in 2020, which focused on evaluating the attractiveness and resource value of native and non-native ornamentals as floral resources for pollinating insect communities here in Florida. Her goal is to continue broadening her understanding of biological systems, the importance of conservation efforts, and the critical need for sustainable landscape and agricultural practices both locally and abroad.
Keir Hamilton
DPM Student
After graduating with an interdisciplinary B.Sc. degree in Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) from the University of South Florida (USF) and a M.Sc. degree in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida (UF), I was convinced that I should pursue a multidisciplinary doctoral degree. The Doctor of Plant Medicine (DPM) program piqued my interest because it assesses plants from a host-centric perspective. Furthermore, I was attracted to the DPM’s target to incorporate integrated pest management (IPM) into their curriculum. Objectively, the DPM program aligns with my goals because it is committed to facilitating students to become applied plant doctors, scientists, researchers, educators, entomologist, nematologist and plant pathologist.
Jenny Gavilanez-Slone
DPM Student
Jenny Gavilanez-Slone, originally from Ecuador, is currently in the DPM Program in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, and is working on a project with Dr. Henri Herrera at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), studying and characterizing the tropical fire ant Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) that was introduced and became invasive in the Galápagos Islands from Ecuador. Her main goal will be to develop a biological control strategy using decapitating phorid flies as part of an IPM program for this ant in the Galapagos Islands. Jenny has worked in the Imported Fire Ant and Household Insect Unit at the Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology (USDA-ARS-CMAVE) since 2011. She has been involved with rearing decapitating flies for tropical fire ants since 2013. Jenny’s strong suit is insect rearing and developing insect diets. She has had the opportunity to work with several systems like green lacewings and its rearing host Angoumois grain moth at Zamorano University, spined soldier Bug at Purdue University, Caribbean fruit fly, tobacco bud worm, small hive beetle and drosophila fruit flies at USDA, Bark beetles and parasitoids with the US Forest Service, and Pink Hibiscus mealybug community and Cactus moth at Florida Division of Plant Industry. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies or sitcoms with her family, and looks after her honey bees and fruit trees in her backyard. Jenny earned her MS degree in the Entomology Department at Oregon State University. She also holds BS and AS degrees in the areas of Biotechnology (Santa Fe College – SFC), Medical Science (SFC), Plant Protection (Zamorano) and General Agriculture (Zamorano). Jenny is a native Spanish speaker, and finds this an important asset to communicate with both Spanish and English speaking scientists and workers.
Taylor Smith
DPM Student
taylor.smith@freshfromflorida.com
Taylor is a biological scientist II at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry.
Shannon McAmis
DPM Student
I was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. I went to the University of South Florida and graduated with my B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology in 2016. After graduation I reflected on my childhood growing up on my family’s small farm in New Port Richey, FL and decided I wanted to pursue a career in agriculture. This brought me to the University of Florida where I completed my M.S. in Agronomy. For my thesis I focused on evaluating a crop model’s ability to predict aflatoxin contamination in peanut and further exploring environmental conditions that lead to aflatoxin contamination through a greenhouse experiment. During my M.S. I began to further appreciate the complexities of agricultural systems and wanted to broaden my understanding of the different aspects involved in agriculture. I am excited to do this through the DPM program’s interdisciplinary approach and to use this knowledge in a future career in agriculture.
Fun Fact: I am a nationally competitive Olympic weightlifter and just took home my first National Champion title in 2020!
Andy Jean Louis
DPM Student
I was born in Cap-Haitian, a city located in the Northern part of Haiti. Growing up in a country with a high food insecurity level, I felt appealed and wanted to help tackle the food insecurity issue. Fortunately, I was granted a scholarship to study agricultural science at EARTH University in Costa Rica. After my B.S., I decided I wanted to go to grad school. Even if I have always wanted to pursue a grad degree in Entomology, I also felt the need to have a broad idea and be able to apply a multi-faceted approach while trying to tackle plant challenges. When I heard about the DPM (Doctor of Plant Medicine) program, I took my time to look it up, and I was excited to see that it was what I wanted. I am currently working on the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), a devastating pest, already established in many states. The plan is to prevent its establishment in Florida, with biological control as our first approach.
Nick Denfeld
DPM Student
Nicholas hails from Fort Lauderdale attended UF for his undergraduate degree in Horticultural Sciences.
Adam Pitcher
DPM Student
Abigail Prohofsky
DPM Student
My hometown is Jacksonville, Florida. I earned a B.S. in Entomology and Nematology from the University of Florida. The Doctor of Plant Medicine program offers unique opportunities for work experience. This, combined with its interdisciplinary nature, is what drew me to DPM over a traditional academic program.
Hannah Talton
DPM Student
I was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Design, with a concentration in Urban and Community Horticulture from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. In the fall of 2017, I decided to move to Gainesville, FL to pursue my Master’s degree in Entomology. Under the supervision of Dr. Oscar Liburd, I joined the Small and Vegetable IPM Laboratory in the University of Florida’s Entomology and Nematology Department. My research objective was to assess the phenology as well as the susceptibility of three different strawberry varieties when exposed to a seed bug pest, Neopamera bilobata. Upon graduation with my Masters in August, I joined the DPM program and will be working on trapping for Old World Bollworm and keeping the DPM newsletter up and running. In my spare time, I enjoy watching movies, listening to music, cooking, playing sports, dancing, and hanging out with friends!
Zach Eldred
DPM Student
I am originally from Morgantown, West Virginia. After graduating high school in 2006, I spent 8 years in the Navy as an EOD Technician. In 2008 I moved to Guam, where I would spend the next decade. Throughout my naval career I traveled and worked all over Asia and in developing countries. In 2015 I started college, but after taking my core agriculture courses, I could not choose which field to focus on. Luckily, in my junior year, my entomology professor recommended that I investigate the DPM program. After learning about this broad hands-on interdisciplinary program, I knew that the DPM program was right for me.
Brianna Whitman
DPM Student
I earned a B.S. in Entomology and Horticulture, with a minor in Crop Science from the University of Idaho. I decided to enroll in DPM because it was interdisciplinary. I was originally planning on doing a Master’s in horticulture and a PhD in entomology so that I could be well rounded and use that to take a multi-faceted approach to problems. While trying to figure out how to fit plant pathology into this plan, I found the DPM program. It was an easier way to accomplish what I wanted.