Cacao Pod
The cacao pod contains seeds used as the main ingredient in chocolate.
Cacao Farming Family in Belize
Cacao farming family in Belize interviewed as part of the Spirt of Chocolate project.
Francisco Menedez Burns and Lena Sheaffer, La Jolla Point, CA Jan 2024
On a break from the Plant and Animal Genome Conference San Diego
Agroforestry Workshop May 2024
The Penn State – Belizean Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE) Initiative Workshop: Agroforestry Systems for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Solutions to Climate Change and Ecosystem Conservation 5//24/2024 @ Penn State Shavers Creek Environmental Center
Phytophthora megakarya Mycelia growing out of an agar plug on a cacao leaf
Black pod is the most destructive of all cacao diseases. We study genes involved in resistance to this pathogen.
Botella Cultura Marañon
Ancient vessel approximately 5,300 years old, which was shown to contain ancient DNA fragments from the cacao genome, revealing the earliest known human use of cacao. Image courtesy of the Ecuadorian Embassy to the US. Replica to be used in the Spirit of Chocolate Project.
Evelyn Kulesza and Patrick Thomas
Coauthors of the Cacao Gene Atlas paper basking in the moment of acceptance of their major milestone manuscript. Kulesza, E., Thomas, P., Prewitt, S.F. et al. The cacao gene atlas: a transcriptome developmental atlas reveals highly tissue-specific and dynamically-regulated gene networks in Theobroma cacao L. BMC Plant Biol 24, 601 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-024-05171-9
Zach Dashner
Presentation at Plant and Animal Genome Conference, Jan. 2024, San Diego, CA "Approaches to reduce cadmium uptake in cacao"
NSF Cacao Genome Diversity Collection
Collection of cacao accessions imported from the International Cacao Germplasm Collection at CATIE, Costa Rica. Each of these varieties have been whole genome sequenced and phenotyped for Phythphora susceptibility.
Jishnu Blatt
Jishnu Blatt, (Ph.D. graduating spring 2025) with undergraduate researcher Angie Minardi (2024)
Muslima Khatun
Visiting Scientists from Bangladesh, 2024
Kogi Children in Colombia
Siela Maximova with children in Northern Colombia (Santa Marta).
Arhuaco cacao farmers
Meeting with 4 members of a local indigenous group in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of northern Colombia as part of the Spirit of Chocolate project.
River cruise in Belizian mangrove ecosystem
Exploring the connections between the rainforests, the transitional plains and the coastal mangrove and reef marine ecosystems with collaborators in Belize.
Plant Science Center
Our lab is the top floor and we use the greenhouses towards the back.
Trinidad
Plants Without Borders Undergraduate Project 2000
Huan and Jihong out in the field
Undergraduate Researcher: Amanda Thompson
Field Research
Somatic Embryo Plants before planting in field site, Quevado Ecuador
Mark Guiltinan
Siela Maximova
Sharon Pishak
Lena Landherr Sheaffer
Josh Lippert
Marissa Kenzakoski
Ann Young
Michael Henry
The Cool Beans Dodge Ball Team
Lab members
Lab Members
Lab members
Lab Members
December, 2009 Left to Right: Mark Guiltinan, Luis Mejia, Zi Shi, Siela Maximova, Jennifer Blackman, Sharon Pishak, Ann Young, Marissa Kenzakoski, Nur Sabrina Wahid, Fred Gouker, Yunfan Zhang
Matt Swayne
Nicolas Niemenak
Siti Izzati Zulkafti
Marna Nelson
Zi Shi
Yi Liu
Jean Phillipe Marelli
Claire Lanaud
Fernando Crespo
Summer 2015
Visiting students from Brazil along with PSU undergraduates learning how to pollinate Cacao trees.
