Grünwald obtained a Bachelor of Science in plant science at University of California Davis in 1992. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy in ecology and plant pathology in 1997 at University of California Davis studying the effect of cover crop decomposition on soil nutrient cycling and soil microbiology. University of California, Davis.
He is currently a research scientist with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Service, a Professor (Courtesy) in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University, and a Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology at Cornell University. His academic research focuses on the evolution, genomics, and ecology of plant pathogens in the genus Phytophthora and management of the diseases they cause. This pathogen group includes some of the most costly diseases affecting crops and ecosystems.
These pathogens have well characterized effectors Effector (biology) to circumvent plant host recognition that in the genus Phytophthora include RxLR, Crinkler and other small secreted proteins.
Grünwald is best known for providing novel insights into how plant pathogens emerge, methods to study pathogen evolution, particularly when populations are clonal, and characterizing the evolutionary history of Phytophthora pathogens.
1991 Phi Kappa Phi 1992 Summa Cum Laude, University of California Davis 1992 Outstanding undergraduate performance, Agricultural Science and Management University of California Davis 1996 Sigma Xi 2006 United States Department of Agriculture ARS Early Career Award 2007 Syngenta Award, American Phytopathological Society 2015 Ruth Allen Award, American Phytopathological Society. This award is named after the first female plant pathologist, Ruth F. Allen, and given for outstanding, innovative research contribution that has changed, or has the potential to change, the direction of research in any field of plant pathology.
