Ruchika Kashyap Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)
Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist
Urban and Controlled Environment Pathology
Department of Plant Pathology
3311 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens Campus
Email: ruchika.kashyap@uga.edu
Office: 706-542-4774
Postdoctoral Researcher: University of California, Davis, CA.
PhD. Plant Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD.
M.S. Plant Pathology (Minor – Entomology), Punjab Agricultural University, India.
B.S. Agriculture with (Hons.) in Crop Protection – Punjab Agricultural University, India.
Bio-sketch: Dr. Kashyap investigates plant disease challenges with a focus on fungal and oomycete pathogens in indoor and urban production systems. Her research leverages tailored strategies driven by needs assessments and strong stakeholder collaborations. Dr. Kashyap’s goal is to develop sustainable plant disease management solutions that directly benefit producers, while bridging the gap between farm and fork through impactful science communication. Additionally, she leads an extension program that fosters a two-way learning process, translating research into actionable solutions for the agricultural community. Passionate about creating positive societal change, Dr. Kashyap uses science communication as a powerful tool to engage and educate diverse audiences.
Haley Kruest
MS – Graduate Research Assistant
Kashyap’s UCEP Lab
Department of Plant Pathology
2311 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens Campus
Email: kruest@uga.edu
B.S. in Agriculture, specializing in Horticulture/CEA, The Ohio State University, OH 2025
Bio-sketch: Haley joined the U-CEP Lab in 2025 after graduating from the Ohio State University, where she discovered her passion for controlled environment agriculture and plant pathology. She’s especially interested in fungal pathogens and is eager to improve sanitization techniques that help growers manage disease outbreaks more effectively. Driven by a love for outreach and education, Haley hopes to inspire the next generation of growers and plant pathologists. Outside the lab and greenhouse, she enjoys running and hiking in local parks, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen, and playing guitar.
Temporary Workers
Nathaniel Robert Mcdougall
Undergraduate Student
Kashyap Lab: 01.2026 to Present
Email: Nathaniel.McDougall@uga.edu
Bio-sketch: Nate is an undergraduate student in Plant Biology whose academic interests include plant conservation, endangered species restoration, and invasive plant management. He aims to pursue a career as a botanical garden curator.
Emily Bray
Undergraduate Student
Kashyap Lab: 01.2026 to Present
Email: Emily.Bray@uga.edu
Bio-sketch: Emily is an undergraduate student at UGA majoring in Plant Biology with an emphasis in Plants and Microbes. She plans to attend graduate school and is exploring plant pathology as a potential career path. She also has a passion for illustration and is interested in finding ways to improve science communications through art and design.
Pradeep Kumar Ragu Chanthar
Ph.D. in Computer Science – Graduate Research Assistant
10.2025 to Present
Boyd Research and Education Center
Email: pradeep@uga.edu
M.S. in Spatial Information Technology, University of Georgia, GA 2015
Bio-sketch: Pradeep Kumar Ragu Chanthar is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Georgia, where he conducts research on large language models, zeroth-order optimization, and differential privacy. His current work focuses on memory-efficient optimization methods for training and fine-tuning large-scale neural networks, including models such as OPT-13B and RoBERTa-Large. He has prior experience as a programmer analyst and research assistant, with a background spanning machine learning, data science, and applied computer vision.
PAST MEMBERS
Jorge Alberto Reyes Pineda, PhD.
Postdoctoral Associate (Kashyap Lab: 09.2024 to 08.2025)
PhD. in Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
M.Sc., in Plant Pathology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
B.S. in Agriculture with (Hons.) in Agronomy, Universidad Nacional de Agricultura (UNAG), Honduras.
Bio-sketch: Dr. Reyes joined the Urban and Controlled Plant Pathology Lab as a Postdoc in September 2024. Currently he is working as a Molecular Plant Disease and Insect Diagnostician with Bartlett Tree Experts.
Ashley Oshin
Undergraduate Intern (Internship Period: May to July 2025)
2025 CGCv2 REEU Fellow
Email: ashleyposhin@outlook.com
Bio-sketch: Ashley is an undergraduate student at Fort Valley State University majoring in Agricultural Economics. She plans to go to graduate school, become an agricultural food scientist, and eventually create her own agricultural non-profit.