Home About Staff Jean Bertrand Contina, Ph.D.

Jean Bertrand Contina, Ph.D.

Research Director, Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center

Email: jean.contina@rodaleinstitute.org
Address: Etzel Sugar Grove Farm, 3706 St Peters Road, Marion, IA 52302

Dr. Contina is the Director of the Rodale Institute Midwest Organic Center. The Center is Rodale Institute’s flagship and first Regional Resource Center in the U.S. and was established in 2019 in Marion, Iowa. The Center at Eztel Sugar Grove Farm operates as an experimental organic research station on a 30-acre of farmland and provides research, education, and assistance to farmers looking to implement organic practices on their farms. It’s also an educational center for the public, and the site of collaboration between Rodale Institute researchers, local and regional partners.

The Center’s research program is focused on optimizing the benefits of cover cropping and no-till practices on soil health, weed control, nutrient management, and crop yield. Furthermore, the Center is working to diversify the Midwest cropping system with food grade crops and livestock integration, and to bring about fundamental changes to production of row-crop agriculture while improving the agroecosystem productivity, increasing farm economic returns and diversifying farmer’s portfolio.

Dr. Contina holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano (Honduras), a M.S. in Soil Science and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from University of Idaho. Prior joining Rodale Institute, he worked as a Farm Manager in the Dominican Republic and as a Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State University. Dr. Contina is an inductee of the Honor Society of Agriculture – Gamma Sigma Delta and he currently sits on the advisory board of the Illinois Farming and Regenerative Management (I-FARM) at the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

Select Publications

  • Chaulagain, B., Contina, J.B., Mills, K., Seibel, R.L., and Mundt, C.C. 2022. Comparing the efficacy of control strategies for infectious disease outbreaks using field and simulation studies. Ecological Applications 32 (6): e2631.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., and Knudsen, G.R. 2020. A spatiotemporal analysis and dispersal patterns of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida in Idaho. Phytopathology, 110: 379-392.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., and Knudsen, G.R. 2019. A predictive risk model analysis of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida in Idaho. Plant Disease, 103: 3117-3128.
  • Contina, J.B., and Dandurand, L.M. 2019. Spatial pattern and risk model development of Globodera pallida in Idaho. Aspects of Applied Biology, 142: 107-116.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., and Knudsen, G.R. 2018. A spatial analysis of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida in Idaho. Phytopathology, 108: 988-1001.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., and Knudsen, G.R. 2017. Use of GFP-tagged Trichoderma harzianum as a tool to study the biological control of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida. Applied Soil Ecology, 115: 31-37.
  • Knudsen, G.R., Dandurand, L.M., and Contina, J.B. 2015. Modeling trap crop and biocontrol agent effectiveness in management strategies for Globodera pallida. Aspects of Applied Biology, 130: 65-74.
  • Ritenour, M.A., Boman, B.J., Hu, C., Burns, J.K., Contina, J.B. 2008. Effect of pre-and postharvest factors on fresh grapefruit peel breakdown. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society, 121: 322-325.

 

Conference Proceedings

  • Contina, J.B., and Smith, A. 2023. Reimagining sustainable food production: Perspectives from organic regenerative agriculture. Harkin on Wellness Symposium, Des Moines IA.
  • Sturm-Flores, L., Contina, J.B., and Afshar, R. 2023. Effect of no-till organic vegetable production systems on soil properties in Iowa. Organic Research Forum, Marbleseed Conference, La Crosse WI.
  • Contina, J.B., Vereecke, L., and Afshar, R. 2023. Use of cover crops in no-till organic system to enhance dry beans production in Iowa. Organic Research Forum, Marbleseed Conference, La Crosse WI.
  • Lantz, R.L., Meadows, A.J., Contina, J.B., Mundt, C.C., Keeling, M.J., and Tildesley, M.J. 2020. Doing more with less: Combatting Foot-and-mouth disease with target density-based culling. Ecological Society of America Conference.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., Knudsen, G.R. 2019. Modeling the impact of the pale cyst nematode Globodera pallida on potato yield using SUBSTOR-DSSAT crop simulation model. Potato Expo 2019, Austin, TX.
  • Dandurand, L.M., Contina, J.B., Zasada, I.A., Wang, X. 2018. Potato cyst nematode eradication and containment in the United States: Successes and struggles. Organization of Nematologists of Tropical America 50th Annual Meeting, Arequipa, Peru.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., Knudsen, G.R. 2018. Modeling the spatial distribution of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida in Idaho. Phytopathology, 108: 43. APS Pacific Division Meeting, Portland OR.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., Knudsen, G.R. 2018. Spatial analysis applied to plant-parasitic nematodes: The case of Globodera pallida in Idaho. Potato Association of America Annual Meeting, Boise ID.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., Knudsen, G.R. 2017. A spatial point pattern analysis of the potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida in Southern Idaho. Journal of Nematology, 49: 487. Society of Nematologists Meeting, Williamsburg VA.
  • Contina, J.B., Dandurand, L.M., Knudsen, G.R. 2017. Biological control approaches to plant-parasitic nematodes: The case of Trichoderma harzianum strain ThzID1. Journal of Nematology, 49: 486-487. Society of Nematologists Meeting, Williamsburg VA.
  • Contina, J.B., Knudsen, G.R., Dandurand, L.M. 2016. Biological control of the pale cyst nematode Globodera pallida with Trichoderma harzianum. Journal of Nematology, 48: 311. Society of Nematologists Meeting, Montréal, Canada.
  • Contina, J.B., Knudsen, G.R., Dandurand, L.M. 2015. Colonization of Globodera pallida (Pale Cyst Nematode) cysts by Trichoderma harzianum. Journal of Nematology, 47: 229-230. Society of Nematologists Meeting, Michigan.

 

Honors and Awards

  • Center for Health in the Human Ecosystem Graduate Student Travel Award, University of Idaho. 2018. USA.
  • Potato Graduate Student Travel Award, University of Idaho. 2016. USA.
  • Kimball, Del & Flo Graduate Fellowship Awards, University of Idaho. 2015. USA.
  • Reconocimiento Especial, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano. 2009. Honduras.
  • Honor Society of Agriculture Gamma Sigma Delta, Zamorano Chapter. 2008. Honduras.
  • Reconocimiento al Mérito, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, Zamorano. 2008. Honduras.
  • Nippon Foundation Ryoichi Sasakawa-Norman Borlaug Scholarship. 2005. Honduras.
  • Prix d’Excellence, Juvénat-Collège Sacré-Cœur. 2004. Haïti.

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