Dr. Lei Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Plant Nematology at Purdue University since fall of 2020, with a joint appointment between Department of Botany & Plant Pathology and Department of Entomology. Dr. Zhang received his PhD in Molecular Plant Sciences at Washington State University (WSU) in 2012 and then conducted postdoctoral research on plant-parasitic nematodes at North Carolina State University and WSU.
Dr. Zhang’s research program at Purdue focuses on studying plant-parasitic nematodes causing serious yield losses in vegetables, fruits and soybean in Indiana. In particular, root-knot nematodes are problematic for watermelon and cantaloupe production in Indiana. By collaborating with Drs. Dan Egel and Wenjing Guan at Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center, the team will conduct field surveys to determine distributions and impacts of nematodes on melon productions. Dr. Zhang also works on developing and testing biological control agents of nematodes. Dr. Zhang looks forward to working with growers in Indiana in the near future.