Rate My Professor Christopher Little

Christopher Little is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at Kansas State University, where he holds the position focused on row crops. He received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Kentucky in 1996 and his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Texas A&M University in 2002, with a dissertation titled “Responses of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench to Fusarium thapsinum and Curvularia lunata infection at anthesis.” His professional career began as a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant at Texas A&M University from 1996 to 2002, followed by an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at The University of Texas – Pan American (now UT Rio Grande Valley) from 2002 to 2007. Since May 2007, he has been at Kansas State University, advancing from Assistant Professor (2007-2013) to Associate Professor (2013-2019) and Professor since July 2019.

Little's research specializes in fungal pathogens of row crops, emphasizing seedling, root, stalk, and seed diseases in sorghum and soybean. His investigations cover diseases such as charcoal rot (Macrophomina phaseolina), Fusarium stalk rot, soybean sudden death syndrome, and Fusarium root rot, including germplasm screening, pathogen interactions, management strategies, and impacts on yield and quality. He has obtained significant grant funding as principal or co-principal investigator from the Kansas Soybean Commission, Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, United Soybean Board, and North Central Soybean Research Program, including a $318,622 United Soybean Board project on soybean seedling pathogens (2022-2023) and multiple Kansas Soybean Commission awards exceeding $300,000 total for soybean disease research. Key publications include the co-authored book "Grasses of South Texas: A Guide to Identification and Value" (2011), which earned the 2011 Special Category Publication Award from the Society for Range Management Texas Section; "The necrotrophic fungus Macrophomina phaseolina promotes charcoal rot susceptibility in grain sorghum through induced host cell wall-degrading enzymes" (Phytopathology, 2018); "Stalk rot fungi affect grain sorghum yield components in an inoculation stage-specific manner" (Crop Protection, 2017); and "Registration of the sorghum nested association mapping (NAM) population in RTx430 background" (Journal of Plant Registrations, 2021). His work has garnered over 1,980 citations on Google Scholar, contributing to advancements in row crop disease management. Little has served on the Kansas State University Faculty Senate.