I am Deepak Haarith, a Plant Pathologist who is curious about how the primary producers and the oldest living organisms interact. I am passionate about sustainable agriculture, food security and safety, smallholder farmers, landless farmers and labour issues. I am always actively seeking opportunities to help alleviate poverty through education, food and farming.
I hail from Chennai, capital city of the southernmost state Tamilnadu, India. I obtained my integrated dual degree (Bachelors and Masters) in Engineering, majoring in Industrial Biotechnology or Bioprocess Engineering, from SASTRA University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India in 2013.
I have over 10 years of research experience, beginning in 2008 as an undergraduate trainee in nanomaterials and nanochemistry laboratory at SASTRA University, India. I transitioned from Engineering to Plant Pathology, motivated by farmer distresses and the large impacts of microorganisms on the world’s primary producers. Since 2015, my fascination for nematodes and other tiny organisms, and their huge impacts on human life has only grown by several fold. I have a strong background in biochemistry and molecular biology, and a track record of applying those principles to various systems. I have published in international peer-reviewed journals indexed in SCI and SCOPUS.
My current project builds on these experiences and focuses on characterizing a culturable mycobiome of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) cysts using morphological and molecular methods. I have been conducting in vitro and in vivo screening of these fungi to discover biocontrol agents and potential bionematicides. I am interested in using all these experiences and tools in my repertoire to investigate and understand nematode interactions with plant hosts and with biotic and abiotic components of the complex soil environment.
