Jonathan Lee-Rodriguez

My alma mater is the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla in which I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology. My past research experience includes working at a summer internship (2018) at Vanderbilt University, researching the structure of N⁴-amino-2’-deoxycytidine- Abasic site Interstrand Crosslink in duplex DNA and its biological affect, and my last summer internship (2019) I worked at the Canas Lab (Ohio State University) studying the LC50 of various chemicals when used on lady beetles. I also worked on a USDA grant, when I was still in my undergrad at the University of Puerto Rico, called Research and Undergraduate Training in Agricultural Sciences (RUTAS) in which I used environmental DNA in the surveillance of invasive species of the Lago Guajataca.

I am currently investigating the use of plant volatiles, near field infrared readings, and environmental DNA to detect the presence of arthropod pests in greenhouse grown tomato plants. The pests that I am currently testing are the sweet potato whitefly (Bemisia argentifolii), green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) and the two-spotted spider mite ( Tetranychus urticae).