How An OSU Laboratory Is Helping Oklahoma Fight Insect Pests and Plant Diseases

Sitting at her laboratory station, Jen Olson meticulously places the alfalfa segments into the petri dish.

Olson, Oklahoma State University Extension plant disease diagnostician, swivels around in her stool, explaining the process. She doesn’t miss a beat, slowly placing each segment equally around in the dish. In her expertise, this specific plant suffers from root rot, but she wants to run additional testing to verify.

“Hopefully, we can help keep this healthy so the producer can get five more years out of that alfalfa,” Olson said.