Liwei Wen
Room 66 NSRC 1101 W Peabody Dr. Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217)-550-2545 Email: lwen3@illinois.edu
Objective:
To obtain a position that will enable me to utilize my on plant pathology, microbiology,
molecular biology and agronomy.
Education:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
M.S. candidate, Department of Crop Sciences GPA: 3.86
Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, China
B.S., Department of Plant Protection GPA: 3.53
Expected date--May 2012
September 2006—July 2010
Experience:
Soybean Pathology Laboratory
September 2010—present
Research Assistant for “Suppression of soybean diseases by use of cover crops”
Field work:

Conducted Field trials at three University farms and three on-farm sites in Illinois.
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Soybean stands counting, disease incidence and severity rating, and yield evaluation.
Greenhouse work:

Conducted greenhouse trials to evaluate the effect of suppressive soil on suppressing sudden
death syndrome (SDS) and Rhizoctonia root rot of soybean.
Lab work:

SCN egg population density testing before and after using cover crops

Quantifying six soybean pathogens using Q-PCR

Soil microbial community structure change before and after using cover crops using ARISA
Laboratory for Soybean Diseases Research
September 2010—present
Research Assistant for “Evaluation the cause of soybean green stem disorder (GSD)”
Greenhouse work:

Study the interaction of Marophomina phaseolina, Colletotrichum truncatum, and GSD.

Study the effects of soil moisture on GSD using an automatic irrigation system.

Study the interaction of M. phaseolina, soil moisture and GSD.
Relevant skills:
Field work skill:

Planting soybean and cover crops.

Soil sample collection; soybean and cover crops sample collection.

Disease diagnosis, and data collection including stands counting, field disease severity and
incidence rating, etc.
Greenhouse work skill:

Soybean planting and maintenance in pots and tubes.

Inoculating soybean with different pathogens with different methods.
Lab work skill:

Fungal pathogen isolation, identification and preservation on different medium.

Disease rating for SDS, and Rhizoctonia stem rot.

Extracting SCN cyst from the soil using a semi-automatic elutriator and liberating, staining,
and enumerating eggs to evaluate the SCN population in the soil

Extraction, purification and quantification DNA, Optimization and execution PCR and Q-PCR

Microbial structure analysis by using ARISA
Data analysis:

Experiment design and protocols development.

Data analysis with SAS, JMP, Microsoft Excel.
Organization, teamwork and other skills:

Co-ordinate between the Soybean Pathology Laboratory and Soybean Diseases Research
Laboratory in developing projects on suppressive soil research and green stem disorder.

Trained and supervised student workers in microbiology techniques and general laboratory
methods