Within the framework of cooperation and communication between School of Agriculture and prestigious institutions, Dr. Maher Al-Rwahnih, Director of the Foundation for Plant Services (FPS) and lecturer in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California/Davis, visited the School of Agriculture on Sunday morning, 1/10/2023, where he was welcomed by the Dean of the School, Professor Ayed Al-Abdallat, the Vice Dean, Professor Nihad Smeirat, Professor Rida Al-Khawaldeh, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Affairs, and the head of the Seminar Committee in the Department of Plant Protection. The Dean welcomed Dr. Rwahnih and noted that it is an honor that one of the School graduates has held an important position at the University of California, Davis. The discussion took place about research, teaching, and training cooperation between the institution and the School of Agriculture.
The visit included a dialogue meeting organized by the Assistant Dean for Graduate Affairs and the head of the Seminars committee in the Plant Protection Department with faculty members, staff and graduate students in the Horticulture, Crops, and Plant Protection Departments in the Horticulture and Plant Protection Conference Hall, where he was welcomed by the Head of the Department. Dr. Al-Rwahnih explained his work in the institution that it is run by and affiliated with the University of California/Davis. He stated that this institution is dedicated to distributing rootstocks of grapes, strawberries, roses, and fruit trees after ensuring that they are free of viral diseases to farmers and nursery owners in California, the United States of America, and the rest of the world. Then the dialogue revolved around consolidating cooperation in the research, teaching and training fields between the institution and the School of Agriculture.
It is worth noting that Dr. Al-Rwahnih, who is a graduate of the School of Agriculture at the bachelor’s level, has experience in developing molecular diagnostic tools to detect and identify viral disease agents and has a highly productive research program. He is considered a pioneer in the characterization of plant viruses in fruit trees through the application of high-throughput sequencing (HTS). Dr. Maher has established a significant and highly productive national and international research program, sharing his work and expertise developed at FPS and elsewhere. He has contributed to more than 120 publications in international journals and seven chapters in agricultural scientific books. He has also presented many seminars at international scientific conferences.