Sep 1, 2014NPC awards da Silva 2014-15 scholarship
Washington Luis da Silva, a plant pathology Ph.D. student at Cornell University, is the recipient of the National Potato Council (NPC) 2014-15 academic scholarship.
The $10,000 academic scholarship is awarded by the NPC to a graduate student pursuing advanced studies that will improve the future of the potato industry. Final scholarship selection is based on academic achievement, leadership abilities and the potential commercial value of the applicant’s academic work.
Da Silva is currently conducting research on potato tuber necrotic ringspot disease (PTNRD). Through this research he hopes to improve the screening process for PTNRD providing an economic benefit for potato breeders and the potato industry.
He is the vice president of the plant pathology graduate student association at Cornell as well as a peer reviewer for several scientific journals and a member of the American Phytopathological Society, the International Union for the Study of Social Insects and the Sociedade Brasileira de Fitopatologia.
He is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the Universidade Federal de Vicosa in Brazil.
