Julie Beale has been the Diagnostician in the University of Kentucky’s Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (Lexington) since 1996. She is a native of North Carolina and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989 and then completed a Master of Sciences in Plant Pathology from the University of Minnesota in 1995. In addition to her diagnostic responsibilities, Julie assists in teaching general plant pathology and plant diagnostics at UK, as well as providing Master Gardener and other training on plant disease diagnosis and management at the county level. She recently conducted research comparing various detection methods for Phytophthora root and crown rot in woody ornamentals which was presented at the 16th Annual Ornamental Workshop of Diseases and Pests in 2008.