About TriCal Diagnostics:
TriCal Diagnostics is a team of highly experienced plant pathology diagnosticians that has extensive knowledge of practical field plant pathology, microbiological and molecular identification techniques, plant pathology research, and production agriculture and horticulture. The first step in managing plant diseases is identifying the cause of such problems. Therefore, effective disease management relies on careful diagnosis. TriCal Diagnostics offers disease and plant problem identification services to growers, field personnel, pest control advisors, homeowners, the general public, and others throughout and beyond California. TriCal Diagnostics is a team that values service and provides accurate and timely diagnoses to clientele.
Staff
Our team possesses a rare combination of clinical lab expertise and in-field pathology experience.
Steven Koike
Steven Koike worked for 28 years as an extension plant pathologist with the University of California, conducting applied research, presenting plant pathology information, and operating a plant pathology diagnostic lab. He has published extensively and is the recipient of numerous honors, including the national Excellence in Extension Plant Pathology award from the American Phytopathological Society. In 2018 he received the Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award from the California Association of Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA).
See CV/Resume for more.
Dr. Hanane Stanghellini
Dr. Hanane Stanghellini received her Ph. D. in Plant Pathology and Soil Ecosystems from the University of Bonn, Germany. She has over 20 years of university research and private-sector experience in custom diagnosis of fungi and bacteria, microbial community structures, molecular analysis and functional genomics of nematodes, and disease resistance screening.
Dr. Kristi Sanchez
Dr. Kristi Sanchez received her Ph. D. in Plant Pathology, specializing in Nematology, from UC Davis. She has over a decade of research and field experience while working at UC Davis, the agrichemical industry, and California Depart. of Food and Agriculture. Kristi’s research background includes pest management of nematodes, morphological and molecular diagnostics of plant parasitic nematodes, and the development of nematode assays for the lab and field. Kristi focuses on nematode field research and diagnostics.
Cayla Tsuchida
Cayla Tsuchida received her M. S. in Plant Pathology from UC Davis where she investigated the variability of lettuce downy mildew. She has many years of experience in diagnosing plant diseases and conducting plant pathology research. Cayla has extensive experience in Next Generation and Sanger sequencing, gene editing, gene expression, and marker assisted selection for plant breeding. Cayla focuses on diagnostics using molecular techniques. She also optimizes and develops DNA-based tests for diagnostic and research purposes.
Jennifer Guerrero
Jennifer Guerrero received her B. S. degree in Chemistry with a minor in Environmental Science from UC Merced, where she also worked as a research assistant in a Soil Biogeochemistry Lab exploring how physical disturbances in the environment affect soil organic matter dynamics. She was a lab technician at an analytical lab for 5 years where she was responsible for sample preparation and analysis, data recording, and report writing. She is proficient with various analytical instruments and is experienced with developing SOPs and related documentation.
Lilly Cosio
Lilly Cosio is the Administrative Assistant for TriCal Diagnostics. She oversees front desk reception duties, manages package delivery and arrival, helps organize the office, and assists TCD with lab sample tracking, data entry, client reports, and invoicing.
Staff
Our team possesses a rare combination of clinical lab expertise and in-field pathology experience.
Steven Koike
Steven Koike worked for 28 years as an extension plant pathologist with the University of California, conducting applied research, presenting plant pathology information, and operating a plant pathology diagnostic lab. He has published extensively and is the recipient of numerous honors, including the national Excellence in Extension Plant Pathology award from the American Phytopathological Society. In 2018 he received the Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award from the California Association of Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA).
See CV/Resume for more.
Dr. Hanane Stanghellini
Dr. Hanane Stanghellini received her Ph. D. in Plant Pathology and Soil Ecosystems from the University of Bonn, Germany. She has over 20 years of university research and private-sector experience in custom diagnosis of fungi and bacteria, microbial community structures, molecular analysis and functional genomics of nematodes, and disease resistance screening.
Dr. Kristi Sanchez
Dr. Kristi Sanchez received her Ph. D. in Plant Pathology, specializing in Nematology, from UC Davis. She has over a decade of research and field experience while working at UC Davis, the agrichemical industry, and California Depart. of Food and Agriculture. Kristi’s research background includes pest management of nematodes, morphological and molecular diagnostics of plant parasitic nematodes, and the development of nematode assays for the lab and field. Kristi focuses on nematode field research and diagnostics.
Cayla Tsuchida
Cayla Tsuchida received her M. S. in Plant Pathology from UC Davis where she investigated the variability of lettuce downy mildew. She has many years of experience in diagnosing plant diseases and conducting plant pathology research. Cayla has extensive experience in Next Generation and Sanger sequencing, gene editing, gene expression, and marker assisted selection for plant breeding. Cayla focuses on diagnostics using molecular techniques. She also optimizes and develops DNA-based tests for diagnostic and research purposes.
Jennifer Guerrero
Jennifer Guerrero received her B. S. degree in Chemistry with a minor in Environmental Science from UC Merced, where she also worked as a research assistant in a Soil Biogeochemistry Lab exploring how physical disturbances in the environment affect soil organic matter dynamics. She was a lab technician at an analytical lab for 5 years where she was responsible for sample preparation and analysis, data recording, and report writing. She is proficient with various analytical instruments and is experienced with developing SOPs and related documentation.
Lilly Cosio
Lilly was born and raised in the outskirts of Watsonville and grew up surrounded by apple orchards. Lilly’s father worked for a locally owned apple company where Lilly would help him with organizing and completing paperwork. As TCD’s Administrative Assistant, she oversees front desk reception duties, manages package delivery and arrival, helps organize the office, and assists TCD with lab sample tracking, data entry, client reports, and invoicing.