Inga A. Zasada
Rev.
07/30/2025
Dr.
Inga Zasada
earned her bachelor’s degree in Crop Science from Oregon State University in
1992 and Master’s in Crop Science at North Carolina State University in
1995. She began her journey into nematology while serving as a Peace Corp
Volunteer in Malta, sparking an interest in nematodes after finding
Globodera pallida on the island.
This led her to Dr. Ferris at UC-Davis
where she completed her PhD on the
use of Brassica isothiocyanate
metabolites in 2002.
Dr. Zasada joined USDA-ARS in Beltsville in 2003 as
a Research Plant Pathologist transferring to the Horticultural Crops
Research Unit in Corvallis, OR in 2008. In 2020, she became the Research
Leader there, supervising 18 scientists and managing a $10 million research
budget. Inga has had a truly impactful, extensive, and innovative career in
nematology due to her mentorship of young nematologists, ground-breaking
research in applied and basic nematology, and her commitment to serving her
stakeholders and the nematology community globally. She has > 137
publications, received over 80 speaking invitations nationally and
internationally, and received > $27 million in external funding. Inga has
collaborations with scientists in 15 countries, advised 5 PhD students, 4
master’s students, and served on the committee of 19 MS and PhD students at
7 different universities.
Inga has made significant contributions to
our knowledge of nematodes in small fruits. Her research has changed how
growers in wine grape and raspberry industries manage nematodes and reduced
the use of nematicides, by
identifying the optimal application timings. She has also had a huge impact
on the US potato industry.
At the national level, Dr. Zasada is
relied upon as an expert in APHIS policy decision making and her research
has helped the $4.3 billion potato industry in the Pacific Northwest of the
USA to better manage potato cyst nematodes. She provided the first
information on the pathogenicity, host range, eradication, and biology of
Globodera ellingtonae and co-led
two successful NIFA funded global interdisciplinary groups. Globodera
Alliance and PAPAS, dedicated to developing integrated nematode management
strategies for potato cyst nematodes.
Dr. Zasada has always made her
research accessible to growers through contributions to extension
publications and grower handbooks, and presentations at field days and
commission meetings. Her knack for collaboration and embracing new
technologies helped to pioneer a genome skimming approach leading to the
discovery of viruses and endosymbiotic bacteria. She was the first to
discover Wolbachia in root-lesion
nematodes, and was part of a team that sequenced and released genomes and
transcriptomes for seven plant-parasitic nematodes. She also investigated
the potential of natural products from > 50 plant species, and was closely
involved in the efficacy and mode of action research of the new generation
of nematicides.
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Inga Zasada has been a dedicated and passionate servant and
leader of the Society of Nematologists (SON). She served as a member of 5
different committees, organizing numerous symposia, and organized the SON
meeting in 2010, in Corvallis OR, and the SON meeting in Anchorage AK, in
2022. She served as the Treasurer of SON (2010-2013) and has taken on
one of the Society’s most important roles as Vice-President / President-elect /
President / Past President (2021-2025). She served as the Editor in Chief of
Nematropica, and promoted nematology in numerous other scientific societies.
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In 2025, Dr. Inga Zasada was
named Fellow of the Society of Nematologists.
Her work ethic, passion, inspiration, wit, and kindness are well-known among her
colleagues, and there are few people that are more worthy of this honor than
Dr. Inga Zasada.
Source: Society of Nemaologists
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