Dr. Xin-Gen “Shane” Zhou has been named the new plant pathologist for Texas AgriLife Research-Beaumont. Zhou will primarily study the diseases of rice, looking at host resistance, new cultural practices, chemical control and integrated management methods. His research also will include bioenergy crops being studied at Beaumont. He comes to AgriLife Research from the University of Maryland-College Park where he was a research associate for nine years studying fusarium wilt and foliar diseases of watermelon. Zhou has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in plant pathology from Zhejiang Agricultural University in China. He earned his doctorate in plant pathology from Oklahoma State University in 2000.