My current research focuses on microbial diversity on coffee in southwestern Ethiopia. I am mainly interested to understand the spatial and local variation in microbiomes associated with the different parts of the coffee plant (i.e., the leaves, berries, stems/bark and roots) and root-associated soils. In my native country Ethiopia, the Afromontane forests in the southwestern part of the country include the native ranges of Arabica coffee, and coffee grows as an understory shrub along a broad gradient of management that includes wild or only-little-managed coffee, smallholder farmers landraces with medium management and intensively managed coffee plantations. Along this gradient of management, I have previously studied on the dynamics of the major fungal diseases on coffee, diseases and natural enemy interaction, the relationship between coffee genetic variation and major fungal diseases, and plant biodiversity – coffee yield relationships.
See my Google scholar or ResearchGate for more details.