Inder P. S. Gadh obtained his B.Sc. in 1974 and M.Sc. in 1976, both from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana, India, majoring in Plant Pathology. In 1977, he won a distinguished award (scholarship) to study at the University of Manitoba, Canada and obtained his PhD in 1982, specializing in the area of Plant Virology. His dissertation was on the ‘Inheritance of resistance in faba beans to bean yellow mosaic virus. Thereafter, he conducted post-doctoral research at Wayne State University, Detroit and then at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, where he studied the molecular biology of plant viruses. In 1991, Inder joined USDA APHIS as a PPQ Officer in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

 

In 1994, Inder received a promotion to become Seed Specialist for PPQ and established a seed analysis and identification lab in Trenton, NJ. In 1996, when Karnal bunt disease appeared in the United States, Inder acquired additional responsibilities of coordinating survey activities for the disease in the State of New Jersey.   In March 2000, Inder moved to the APHIS Headquarters in Riverdale, Maryland and joined the Phytosanitary Issues Management Team as an Import Specialist until 2004 when he was promoted to become Senior Risk Manager with emphasis on phytosanitary treatments. At this position, Inder has worked on many rules involving pest risk management and irradiation issues until he retired in 2016.  

 

Over the years, Inder has received many awards and recognitions, including two from the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for his work on the Karnal Bunt Survey in the U.S. (1996) and the approval of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment (2007). In addition to his work for APHIS, Inder has also worked on the side, along with his wife or other partners, in setting up and operating various businesses, including convenience stores, a computer store, a laundromat, and a shipping outlet for major package carriers.