Rate My Professor Sarah Pethybridge

Sarah Pethybridge serves as Associate Professor and Program Leader in Plant Pathology within the School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section at Cornell AgriTech, Cornell University. She earned a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with First Class Honors in 1995 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Pathology in 2000, both from the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her professional journey includes positions as Extension Plant Pathologist at the University of Tasmania (1999-2009), Agricultural Research Manager at Botanical Resources Australia Pty. Ltd. (2009-2012), and Science Group Leader for Field Crops at Plant & Food Research New Zealand (2012-2014). She joined Cornell University in July 2014 as Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019.

The principal focus of Pethybridge's research is the epidemiology of vegetable diseases, encompassing diseases of vegetables, Sclerotinia, epidemiology, and fungicide resistance. With extensive experience in managing diseases of hop, pyrethrum, snap bean, carrot, table beet, and potato across Australasia, she leads the Epidemiology of VegetAble DisEases (EVADE) Laboratory as Principal Investigator. Notable contributions include the development of the Leaf Doctor iPad application for quantifying plant disease severity (2015) and the Estimate tool for disease assessment. Her influential publications feature "Leaf Doctor: A new portable application for quantifying plant disease severity" (Plant Disease, 2015; 260 citations), "Perceptions of risk, risk aversion, and barriers to adoption of decision support systems and integrated pest management: an introduction" (Phytopathology, 2011; 140 citations), "Viruses and viroids infecting hop: Significance, epidemiology, and management" (Plant Disease, 2008; 100 citations), "Compendium of hop diseases and pests" (2009; 85 citations), "Diseases of pyrethrum in Tasmania: challenges and prospects for management" (Plant Disease, 2008; 80 citations), and "Stagonosporopsis spp. associated with ray blight disease of Asteraceae" (Australasian Plant Pathology, 2012; 78 citations). Pethybridge has been recognized with the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Early Achievement Award (2018), the American Phytopathological Society Syngenta Award for outstanding contributions in plant pathology (2010), the University of Tasmania Foundation Award for Outstanding Graduates (2004), and the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology Young Professionals in Agri-Industry National Award (2003). She holds significant editorial roles, including Senior Editor of Plant Disease (2019-present), Editor of Annals of Applied Biology (2015-present), and former Editor of Annual Review of Phytopathology (2013-2018).