Plant pathologist Dr. Matthew Rouse works at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service’s Cereal Disease Laboratory (CDL) and serves as Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota. Matt joined the CDL in 2010 immediately after completing a PhD at the University of Minnesota and was appointed to the University of Minnesota faculty in 2011. As part of the CDL, Matt’s research mission is to reduce losses in wheat and barley to major diseases including stem rust and leaf rust. Matt has contributed towards solutions to the threat of Ug99 and other emerging virulent races of the stem rust pathogen. In the fight against Ug99, Matt has conducted research in Kenya, Ethiopia, and in a biocontainment facility at the University of Minnesota. Excellent team members at the CDL, University of Minnesota, and international collaborators worked with Matt to make rapid progress in identifying new stem rust resistance genes, establishing new field disease screening nurseries in Ethiopia, and assisting breeders in the release of stem rust resistant wheat varieties across the globe. Matt is a member of the Stakman-Borlaug Center for Sustainable Plant Health at the University of Minnesota. Matt and his beautiful wife Alicia have two young children.
