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Dr. Dennis Lawn
Pathologist
Consultant

As soon as we knew that Dennis started its consulting activity, we offered him the responsibility to implement and organize our Pathology Department to support all our breeding activities.

Dennis Lawn is an applied, hands-on plant pathologist who received an M.S. and Ph.D in plant pathology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His dissertation research emphasized nematode interactions and included international development work in a USAID project in the Republic of Zambia. To broaden his experience beyond the field of plant pathology, Dennis joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico City and worked in a program developed by Nobel Prize winner, Norman Borlaug. During the four years he worked at CIMMYT he learned to integrate his pathology skills with plant breeding efforts and work in a team environment for a common goal.

After leaving Mexico, Dennis relocated to Hollister, California and joined the Asgrow vegetable seed company as a specialist in soilborne diseases. Although supporting worldwide plant breeding programs was the major focus during those years, Dennis continued to be on the cutting edge of research and published several notes on Fusarium oxysporum diseases of tomato and onion. In addition to Asgrow, his vegetable seed industry experience includes Seminis Vegetable Seed, Orsetti Seed Company, and various consulting activities.