Shirley Micallef

Shirley Micallef is a professor of plant science and landscape architecture at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Her research focuses on the microbiological safety of fresh produce, particularly how Salmonella and E. coli associate with plants before harvest. She examines how cropping practices and environmental conditions affect the persistence and spread of these pathogens, and uses environmental metabolomics to understand how they colonize plant surfaces. Micallef also studies beneficial microbes and crop microbiomes, exploring how plant-growth promoting bacteria enhance resilience to stress.