BIOGRAPHY
Dhiraj Gautam completed his B.Sc. Ag. and M.Sc. (Plant Pathology) from Tribhuvan University, Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Chitwan, Nepal in 2005. He worked as an Assistant Professor in Department of Plant Pathology at Tribhuvan University for 4 years teaching plant pathology courses. In 2009, he received an assistantship for PhD degree from the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA. After completion of his PhD in 2013, he joined food microbiology laboratory as a postdoc and laboratory manager in Food and Agricultural Products Center located in OSU, Stillwater, OK 74078. He moved to California in 2016 and started working as a plant pathologist with USDA-ARS, San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center, Parlier, CA, USA.
RESEARCH INTEREST
His research interests are mainly in the field of food safety and plant pathology, with more emphasis on microbial contamination of fresh produce, meat and dairy produce as well as control of mold in postharvest storage of fresh fruits with fungicide alternatives.
