NH Matteo M Garbelotto Benzon Ph.D.

Biographical Sketch – Dr. Matteo Garbelotto; P.I.

Adjunct Associate Professor

Associate Extension Specialist

Department of ESPM

University of California, Berkeley

www.matteolab.org

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

University of Padua, Italy, Magna cum laude BS & MS in Forestry, 1990

University of California, Berkeley, MS in Plant Pathology, 1993

University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, 1996

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

European Food Safety Authority: Appointed technical advisor (2010-2011)

University of California Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist

Adjunct Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Post-Doctoral Research Associate, University of California, Berkeley (1997-2000)

Visiting Scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama (1998)

USDA scientific expedition program  (1993)

AWARDS & HONORS

1990 Fulbright Scholar

2004 Unsung Hero Award from San Francisco Tomorrow

2004 Proclamation by California State Assembly as Oak Savior

2004 Proclamation for oak work by City and County of San Francisco

2009 Research Award by The Society of Arboriculture

PUBLICATIONS go to www.matteolab.org

Biosketch

Dr. Matteo Garbelotto is an Adjunct  Professor in Environmental Sciences at the

University of California Berkeley, and the Forest Pathology Specialist for the

entire University of California system.   He began his teaching and research

career at Berkeley in 1996.  Today, he is the head of the Forest Pathology and Mycology Lab, which he established in 2001 and where he supervises over 20 researchers and lab

technicians.  His projects are funded by the National Science Foundation, the

U.S. Department of Agriculture/The U.S. Forest Service, The U.S. Department of

Energy, The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and through generous private grants

from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.  His work focuses on understandi

the epidemiology of infectious diseases in natural ecosystems. He has published over 100 peer reviewed papers and his work has been reviewed or published in leading International Scientific Journals such as  Science and Nature.His efforts to directly educate the public have earned him environmental recognition by environmental groups and his worked has been presented in over 400 newspapers and magazine articles locally, nationally and worldwide. In 2003, the NY Times dedicated an entire weekly section to his work. He advises 10 National Governments on Plant Health and he has

testified in front of a U.S. Congress panel.  In 2010, he was appointed as a US citizen to serve for a year in the European Food Safety Authority the equivalent of the US FDA.

In the greater San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California into Oregon,

Matteo is well known for having co-discovered the agent responsible for Sudden Oak

Death ("SOD"),  a disease that is quickly killing many oak species throughout

Northern California.  His work on SOD has resulted in the understanding of how the causing agent arrived in the states and has also resulted in several treatment options to

protect the oak trees. Matteo is actively working with local communities to educate

property owners, arborists, and the general public on preventive measures to help slow the disease on how to protect oak trees.