Dr. Punya Nachappa, Wild wild west: Emerging viruses and viroid communities of hemp

April 2022

Dr. Punya Nachappa received her M.S. in Entomology from University of Georgia, and Ph.D. in Entomology from Kansas State University. After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Nachappa held positions as a post-doctoral associate at Kansas State University and Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Colorado State University (CSU), she was an Associate Professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne. As an Associate Professor at CSU, the Nachappa Lab’s research focuses on understanding the interaction between plants, pathogens, and insect vectors in cropping systems that are of importance to Colorado agriculture, including hemp plants. Topics of interest include studying the biology and pest management options of some key pests of hemp such as the hemp russet mite and cannabis aphid and the ecology and epidemiology of the beet curly top virus (BCTV) and beet leafhopper in hemp. The lab is using hemp viral metagenomics to characterize the diversity of viruses/viroids in hemp.

Previous Webinars

Roberta Paris, PhD.

Genetic, molecular and biochemical studies on the accumulation of bioactive compounds in Cannabis sativa L.

19 March, 2025, 11:00 AM  

Dr. Roberta Paris studied at the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, where she obtained the PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2006. She is a permanent researcher at Council for Agricultural Research and Economic, Research […]

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Sarah D. Lichenstein, PhD.

Neural mechanisms of risk for problem-level cannabis use among emerging adults

Dr. Lichenstein is a licensed clinical psychologist, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Assistant Director of the Yale Imaging and Psychopharmacology Lab at Yale School of Medicine. She received her BA in Psychology from Bard College (2008), and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the […]

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Kevin Boehnke, PHD.

January 9th at 1:00PM MST

Thoughtful approaches to chronic pain and cannabis research

Dr. Kevin Boehnke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. Kevin received his doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences in 2017. He is also a […]

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David Gorelick, MD, PHD.

December 12th at 1:00PM MST

Cannabis-related psychiatric disorders

Dr. David Gorelick earned his bachelor degree in psychology from Cornell University and his medical degree and PhD in pharmacology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After completing his psychiatry residency at UCLA, he remained on the faculty until 1989, when he moved to the NIDA Intramural Research […]

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Kimberly Gwinn, PhD

February 19, 2025 at 11:00 AM MST

Title “Exploring Nematode Interactions with Cannabis”

Kimberly D. Gwinn is a Professor of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee. Her lab currently investigates natural products that are produced by plants and microbes and their uses as medicines and as bio-pesticides. She has also explored the […]

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Kenneth Frost, PhD.

Wed, Nov. 20, 11:00AM MST

Recognizing diseases of hemp grown in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

Ken Frost is an Associate Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University. His research and extension program is located at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Hermiston, Oregon, […]

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