Overview

I have been the Director of the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic of the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell University since July of 1998 and the Associate Director of the Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network since November of 2002. I was born to diary farming and grew up in New Jersey. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell in Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture. I became very interested in plant pathogens during my undergraduate work and decided to pursue a Masters of Professional Studies degree in the department of Plant Pathology. My Masters research focused on an evaluation of onion flower susceptibility to a known fungal pathogen. As Director of the Clinic, I am responsible for diagnosing plant diseases on a wide range of host plants such as woody ornamentals, herbaceous plants, fruits, vegetables, turfgrass, and field crops. Additional duties include training Master Gardeners, Extension Educators, and other green industry members on the basics of plant disease and the pathogens that cause them, as well as introducing youth to the vast world of fungi. As Assistant Director of the NEPDN, I support the overall mission of providing detection of a possible bioterrorist attack of the nation's natural and agriculture systems. I am pursuing my Doctorate under the employee degree program at Cornell.

Outreach and Extension Focus

My extension teaching programs are geared toward audiences that include Master Gardeners, Extension Educators, other green industry members, and students. They focus on basic plant pathology, plant disease diagnostics, and the operation of the NEPDN. I am responsible for overseeing the diagnosis of plant diseases on a wide range of host plants such as woody ornamentals, herbaceous plants, fruits, vegetables, turfgrasses, and field crops, as well as conducting large scale surveys searching for harmful, introduced pathogens of high concern and those pathogens that are capable of causing significant damage to agricultural or natural environments and may be intentionally or unintentionally introduced. My NEPDN duties include maintaining a regional center capable of supporting the diagnostic needs of 12 northeastern states. I represents all NPDN member diagnosticians on the National NPDN operations committee. As chairman of the diagnostics subcommittee, I provide leadership in the creation of Standard Operating Procedures, coordination of highly sophisticated, identification procedure training events, and maintaining active communications of significant events. As chairman of the national database subcommittee, I provide leadership in the creation of Upload Guidelines for those submitting diagnostic identifications to the National Repository at Purdue University and in reviewing the host and pathogen EPA pest codes for appropriate content and accuracy.

Instruction Focus

Guest Lectures in: o Biology 101- Career Explorations o Hort 102- Hands On Horticulture. o Plpa 241/301- Plant Disease and Disease Management. o Plpa 411-Plant Disease Diagnosis. o Plpa 601 Introduction to Oomycetes. o Plpa 707- Phytobacteriology. o Hort 300-Interior Plants. o Hort 476-Practical Problem-Skills in Hortculture. o Plpa 610- Oomycete Biology and Pathology, Guest Lecture.

Additional Links

• Department of Plant Pathology
• National Plant Diagnostic Network
• Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network
• Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic Website
• Link to VIVO profile

Honors, Awards and Appointments

• Cornell Tradition Fellow - September 1995-May 1997
• Associate Director, Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network - November 2002-present
• New York State Academic All-American Second Team Member - March 1995
• Senior Extension Associate - July 2003-present
• Director, Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic, Cornell University - July 1998-present.
• Extension Associate III - July 1998-June 2003
• American Society of Agronomy, 2001 Educational Material Awards Program, Certificate of Excellence,Cornell University Turfgrass Times. - 2001
• Military Awards: The Air Force Achievement Medal with Two Oak-leaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal, Expert Marksmanship Medal, Short-tour Overseas Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. -

Professional Activities

• USDA Laboratory Security Meeting, September 2007, Washington, DC - September 2007
• 16th Ornamental Workshop on Diseases and Insects, September 2006, Hendersonville, NC. - September 2006
• Sudden Oak Death, September 2005, Arborists and Foresters Field Day, Westchester County, NY - September 2005
• APS Soybean Rust Symposium, November 2006, St. Louis, MO - November 2006
• APS Soybean Rust Symposium, November 2005, Nashville, TN - November 2005
• Plant Disease after 9/11, November 2004. NYS StateTurfgrass Association Annual Meeting, Rochester, NY. - November 2004
• The Art & Science of Diagnosis and Significant Agent Overview, NEPDN-NY First Detector Training, March 2005, via Video Conference, Ithaca, NY - March 2005
• An Introduction to Sudden Oak Death, March 2005, Nursery and Landscape Education Day, Ithaca, NY - March 2005
• Common Pests and Problems, June 2005, Schuyler County, Montour Falls, NY - June 2005
• Introduction to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic (including laboratory methods hands on), June 2005, New York State Master Gardener Conference, Ithaca, NY - June 2005
• American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, July 2007, San Diego, CA - July 2007
• American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting, July 2006, Quebec, Ontario, Canada. - July 2006
• NPDN First Detector Training, First Detector Significant Agents, July 2005, NACAA Annual Meeting, Buffalo NY - July 2005
• Ralstonia solanacearum R3 B2, January 2007, NPDN National Meeting, Orlando, FL Evolution of Laboratory Upgrades and Preparedness Training Since the Establishment of the National Plant Diagnostic Network, January 2007, NPDN National Meeting, Orlando, FL - January 2007
• An Overview of the Purpose and Recent Accomplishments of the National Database Subcommittee, January 2007, NPDN National Meeting, Orlando, FL - January 2007
• 2007 NPDN National Meeting, January 2007, Orlando, FL - January 2007
• Turf Diseases, Cornell Turfgrass Management Short Course, January 2006, Ithaca, NY. - January 2006
• Diagnosing Plant Pathogens, February 2006, Advanced Horticulture School, Rochester, NY - February 2006
• NEPDN Regional Meeting, February 2006, Tampa, FL - February 2006
• The Role of the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) and Land Grant University Cooperative Extension Services in Promoting the Early Detection of Exotic Pests (Symposium), "The NPDN Diagnostics Subcommittee ", December 2005, Entomology Society of America Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. - December 2005
• National Plant Board Meeting, August 2007, Honolulu, HI - August 2007
• The Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network and Plant Disease Issues, April 2007, Cornell University Annual Pesticide Update, Ithaca and Geneva, NY - April 2007
• Molecular PCR Training for the pathogens that cause Sudden Oak Death and Citrus Greening, April 2006. USDA/APHIS/PPQ/CPHST, Beltsville, Maryland. - April 2006
• An Introduction to the NPDN, the NEPDN and the use of the Plant Diagnostic Information System for data collection, April 2005, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada - April 2005

Selected Publications

• Snover-Clift, K.L., P.A. Clement, R. Jablonski, R.J. Mungari, V.A. Mavrodieva, S. Negi, and L. Levy, November 2007, First Report of the Plum pox virus on Plum in New York State, Plant Disease Note, Plant Disease, PD-0321, Page 1512.
• Stack, J., K. Cardwell, R. Hammerschmidt, J. Byrne, R. Loria, K. Snover-Clift, W. Baldwin, G. Wisler, H. Beck, R. Bostock, C. Thomas, and E. Luke. January 2006. The National Plant Diagnostic Network. Plant Disease 90:2.
• Lamour, K. H., Finley, L., Snover-Clift, K. L., Stack, J. P., Pierzynski, J., Hammerschmidt, R., Jacobs, J. L., Byrne, J. M., Harmon, P. F., Vitoreli, A. M., Wisler, G. C., Harmon, C. L., Levy, L., Zeller, K. A., Stone, C. L., Luster, D. G., and Frederick, R. D. 2006. Early detection of Asian soybean rust using PCR. Online. Plant Health Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2006-0524-01-RS.
• Klass, C. and K.L. Snover-Clift. Pest Management Around the Home, Part II. 2005-2006 Pesticide Guidelines. 99pp.
• Snover-Clift, K.L. and Mary McKellar, December 2004. Standard Operating Procedures for the NPDN; Ralstonia solanacearum R3 B2 Version 2.1, NPDN Select Agent Guidelines. 32pp.
• Snover-Clift, K.L. and Mary McKellar, December 2004. Standard Operating Procedures for the NPDN; Phakopsora pachyrhizi and P. meibomiae (Soybean Rust) Version 1.2, NPDN Select Agent Guidelines. 26pp.
• Snover-Clift, K.L. and Mary McKellar, November 2004. Standard Operating Procedures for the NPDN; Phytophthora ramorum (Sudden Oak Death), NPDN Select Agent Guidelines. 23pp.
• Snover-Clift, K.L. and Mary McKellar, August 2004. Standard Operating Procedures for the NPDN; Plum Pox Virus, NPDN Select Agent Guidelines. 23pp.
• Miller, William B., Martijn Verlouw, Susan S. Liou, Holly O. Cirri, Karen Snover-Clift, and Chris Watkins, Variation in Fusarium-induced Ethylene Synthesis Among Tulip Cultivars, 2004 ASHS Annual Meeting Abstract.
• Snover-Clift, K.L. June 2003. Standard Operating Procedures for the NPDN; Ralstonia solanacearum R3 B2, NPDN Select Agent Guidelines. 23pp.
• Snover, K.L. and P.A. Arneson. 2002. Black knot. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2002-0926-0, APS, http://www.apsnet.org/education/LessonsPlantPath/blackknot/

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