Philip Waisen

Philip Waisen (Ph.D.)

Philip Waisen is a Vegetable Crops Advisor at the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE). He started on January 10, 2022, and works out of Palm Desert Office in Riverside with responsibilities both in Riverside and Imperial counties. Prior to joining UCCE, Philip was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he worked on Western SARE-funded research projects on nematode and soil health management in agroecosystems (tomato, peppers, cucurbits, asparagus, banana, brassicas). He also taught a graduate-level Plant Nematology course for a semester while as a postdoctoral researcher. For the whole of 2021, Philip was attached with his undergraduate school, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology as a part-time lecturer teaching Plant Pathology, Research Methods, and Horticultural Sciences courses.

Here at UCCE, Philip develops Research and Extension Programs focused on Pest and Disease Management, Soil Health Management, and Soil Fertility Management in Low Desert Vegetable Cropping Systems. 

Current Projects

• Effects of reduced-risk nematicides on root-knot nematode, beneficial nematodes, soil microbiome, and impacts on nutrient cycling in rhizosphere of fruiting vegetables.
• Insecticide efficacy trials targeting aphids and Lepidopteran (diamondback moth, cabbage looper, and imported cabbageworm) pests on leafy vegetables.
• Assessing mechanical harvestability of fresh market onions in low desert growing conditions.
• Soil health and soilborne disease management using soil conservation practices including cover crops, compost, biochar, and spirulina by-products.
• Relationship between soil-applied low risk nematicides and rhizosphere microbiome (bacterial, fungal and nematode communities) and impact on nutrient cycling in vegetable crops.