President: Liuqi “Aloy” Gu (lg356@cornell.edu)
Aloy is a third year PhD student in Entomology. His research focuses on maleless gene in Codling moth which is a major apple pest in New York. His diverse interests include but are not limited to: photography & cooking (actually excel in), and various sports (preferably outdoors, not good at though) such as hiking, skiing, swimming… But first of all, he loves making friends!
Vice President: Giselle Guron (gpg4@cornell.edu)
Giselle is a third year PhD student in Food Science working with Enterococcus mundtii, a bacteriocin-producing lactic acid bacteria. Her other interests include cooking, baking, listening to music of all genres, playing games, taking pictures, and traveling to new places.
Treasurer: Diane Schmitt (dms426@cornell.edu)
Diane is a first year M.S. student in Food Science working in the Mansfield lab. Her non academic interests include traveling, dancing, music, hiking, cooking, and eating at restaurants.
Social Chair I: Kitipong “Tai” Assatarakul (ka282@cornell.edu)
Kitipong is a fourth year Ph.D. student from Bangkok, Thailand in Dr. Randy Worobo lab working on microbiological safety enhancing of juices. My interests are cooking, eating, listening to songs, and watching TV.
Social Chair II: Resty Tocmo (rtt34@cornell.edu)
Resty is a second year master’s student in Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour’s lab. He is a Ford Foundation Fellow from the Philippines. His research includes characterization of cold-pressed oils from grape and squash seeds. He also studies the effect of packaging and different storage conditions on the quality, stability and shelf life of the oils. Resty’s favorite sport is tennis, but he also loves playing volleyball and ping-pong.
Recording Secretary: Lisa Jones (laj7@cornell.edu)
Lisa will be starting her third year as a plant pathology graduate student. She is studying detection and treatment strategies of plant pathogens in surface irrigation waters. She likes just about every type of outdoor activity. Some of her favorite things are spicy food, the color green, and the smell of white ginger flowers.
Financial Secretary: Jessie Usaga Barrientos (ju56@cornell.edu)
Jessie is a first year MS student in the Department of Food Science and Technology, and she is working in Dr. Olga Padilla-Zakour’s lab. Jessie is a Fulbright grantee originally from Costa Rica, and her research project is focused on enhancing the safety of non-thermally processed apple cider by combining microfiltration with ultraviolet treatment. She is specifically working with UV-C irradiation technology. Her interests include ballet dancing, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.
GPSA Representative: Erik Smith (eas56@cornell.edu)
Erik is a second-year PhD student in Entomology. He studies onion thrips ecology and weed hosts of both onion thrips and Iris yellow spot virus, an onion pathogen spread by onion thrips. Even though he’s an Entomology major, he loves plants and gardening. When Erik is not in the field or the lab, he’s usually making music with friends or playing a pick-up game of basketball.
Garden Coordinator: John Gottula (jwg88@cornell.edu)
John came to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station three years ago to develop novel biotechnologies for horticulture and biological science and found a home in the Department of Plant Pathology. Hobbies include jogging and cooking, and interests include linguistics and sociology.
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