Dr. Tristan Watson

Dr. Watson’s Louisiana State University (LSU) faculty page.

Dr. Tristan Watson is an assistant professor of nematology in LSU AgCenter’s Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology. Watson completed his PhD in biology at the University of British Columbia in Canada and spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Florida’s Department of Entomology and Nematology before moving to LSU AgCenter in 2020. In Louisiana, Dr. Watson has statewide responsibility for nematode management on all crops and is the Director of LSU AgCenter’s Nematode Advisory Service. His research program focuses on identifying and implementing effective integrated nematode management strategies and extension of research to growers.

Dr. Watson’s research interests on sweetpotato include identification of effective nematicide chemistries and application methods, evaluation of nematode host resistance, the use of winter cover crops for nematode management, and characterization of nematode resistance mechanisms. In the current project, Dr. Watson’s research team will be characterizing Meloidogyne enterolobii resistance mechanisms in sweetpotato germplasm, examining sweetpotato root architecture in response to nematode parasitism, and contributing to grower extension of research results.

Meet Dr. Watson’s laboratory members associated with the SweetARMOR project.