Dr. Orbach is a professor of plant pathology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. His focus is based on studying the ecological niche of the fungus that causes Valley fever and the analysis of the global gene expression in Coccidioides posadasii during both saprobic and parasitic growth. In his analysis, he has been working with the Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). His research interests also include the molecular genetics of fungal pathogenicity in animals and plants.