Kaitlin Diggins is from Mondamin, Iowa, and a recent graduate of Iowa State University (2022) with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Horticulture. Kaitlin grew up on a small, diversified hobby farm, where a deep passion for nature, science, and sustainable, small-scale agriculture was catalyzed.
Her previous experience with vegetable crops and commercial farming started when she was hired for her first job on a local family-owned fruit farm. From there, she made it a personal goal to participate in interdisciplinary projects that work toward a sustainable future for farmers. Kaitlin’s research interests evolved as she progressed through her academic career, starting in agriculture and soil science and moving to plant biochemistry and climate change, and finally progressing to integrated pest management in organic farming systems. It was in this final research project, which was a collaborative multi-state research effort that she met Dr. Sarah Pethybridge.
Kaitlin is currently a first-year Ph.D. student expanding her knowledge of fungal diseases in organic vegetable systems. She is working on the collaborative ECOBEAN project, where she will work to increase the production of organic dry beans in the Northeast by enhancing management practices for white mold caused by the fungus, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, that causes significant damage to bean yields in the United States and worldwide.
