M ATTEO G ARBELOTTO
Environmental Science, Policy, and Management , University of California Berkeley
E DUCATION :
University of Padua, Italy, Magna cum laude BS & MS in Forestry, 1990
University of California, Berkeley, MS in Plant Pathology, 1993
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, 1996
E MPLOYMENT AND A FFILIATIONS :
European Food Safety Authority
Appointed technical advisor, 2010-2011
University of California, Berkeley
Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist and Associate Adjunct Professor, 2005-2011
University of California, Berkeley
Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist and Assistant Adjunct Professor, 2000-2005
University of California, Berkeley and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, 1997-2000
R ECENT H ONORS AND A WARDS :
2004 Unsung Hero Award from San Francisco Tomorrow
2004 Proclamation by California State Assembly
2004 Proclamation by City and County of San Francisco
2009 Research Award by The Western Society of Arboriculture
P ROFESSIONAL M EMBERSHIPS :
American Phytopathological Society
Mycological Society of America
International Union of Forestry Research Organization
California Oak Mortality Task Force
P ROFESSIONAL S ERVICE
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Phytopathologia Mediterranea, Section Editor
Journal of Plant Pathology, Associate Editor
IUFRO, Chairperson of Working Party 7.02.01
California Oak Mortality Task Force, Scientific Advisor
R ESEARCH
EXOTIC FOREST DISEASES: we are interested in uncovering the mechanisms behind invasions by exotic
forest pathogens, and we use molecular tools to understand their biology, ecology, and epidemiology .
FUNGAL ECOLOGY: WE ARE USING BENEFIC IAL AND PATHOGENIC FUNGI AS MODEL SYSTEMS TO
UNDERSTAND ISSUES OF ISOLATION BY DISTANCE , ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN
RELATIONS TO HABITAT SIZE AND AGE .
BIODIVERSITY AND ALL TAXA INVENTORIES: WE ARE INTERESTED IN DESCRIBING BIODIVERSITY AND
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS, GENOMICS: our lab is at the forefront of testing the effic acy, sensitivity
and reliability of new diagnostic tools for the detection and study of forest diseases. We are also involved in
the genomic unraveling of two fungi: Phytophthora ramorum and Heterobasidion irregulare (H. annosum).
MANAGEMENT OF FOREST DISEASES: we are studying the efficacy and longevity of direct chemical
controls on forest diseases, with an emphasis on phosphonates because of their absence of environmental side
effects. We are also interested in learning how horticultural (e.g. pruning, co mposting) and silvicultural (e.g.
thinning) approaches may affect the epidemiology and impact of forest diseases.
P UBLICATIONS
Gonthier P, and Garbelotto M. 2011 Amplified fragment length polymorphism and sequence analyses reveal massive
gene introgression from the European fungal pathogen Heterobasidion annosum into its introduced congener H.
irregulare. Molecular Ecology 20 (13), : 2756–2770.
Mascheretti, S., Croucher, P., Vettraino, A., Prospero, S., & Garbelotto, M. (2008) Reconstruction of the sudden oak death
epidemic in California through microsatellite analysis of the pathogen Phytophthora ramorum. Molecular Ecology,
17(11), 2755-2768.
Gonthier, P., Nicolotti, G., Linzer, R., Guglielmo, F., & Garbelotto, M. (2007) Invasion of European pine stands by a
North American forest pathogen and its hybridization with a native infertile taxon. Molecular Ecology, 16, 1389-1400
Peay, K. Bruns, T., Kennedy, P., Bergemann, S. & Garbelotto, M. (2007) A strong species-area relationship for eukaryotic
soil microbes: island size matters for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Ecology Letters, 10, 470-480
Dodd, R.S., Hüberli, D., Douhovnikoff, V., Harnik, T.Y., Afzal-Rafii, Z. & Garbelotto, M. (2004) Is variation in
susceptibility to Phytophthora ramorum correlated with population genetic structure in coast live oak (Quercus
agrifolia)? New Phytologist 165, 203-214.
Rizzo, D.M., M. Garbelotto, J.M. Davidson, G.W. Slaughter & S.T. Koike. 2002. Phytophthora ramorum as the cause of
extensive mortality of Quercus spp. and Lithocarpus densiflorus in California. Plant Disease 86: 205-214.