Courtney Weber Assistant Professor. Ph.D. Department of Horticultural Sciences Cornell University New York State Agricultural Experiment Station Geneva, NY 14456 (315) 787-2395

BACKGROUND

ACADEMIC EDUCATION:

ACADEMIC RANKS:

Professor:

Associate Professor:

Assistant Professor: March 15, 1999

PRIMARY DEPARTMENTAL PROGRAM AREA:

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: The development of improved small fruit varieties, especially strawberry and raspberry, using traditional and biotechnological techniques with an emphasis on molecular genetics.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

SABBATICALS AND STUDY LEAVES:

HONORS AND AWARDS:

American Pomological Society-Best Scientific Paper 1997. Weber, Courtney A., Wayne B. Sherman, and Gloria A. Moore. 1997. Linkage and Correlation Analysis of Some Traits in Peach. Fruit Varieties Journal. 51(4):246-250.

REPRESENTATIVE ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITIES

CURRENT DIVISION OF EFFORT

Ø Teaching 0%

Ø Research 80%

Ø Extension 20%

Ø Other 0%

CURRENT ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES:

RESEARCH RESPONSIBILITIES:

Ø Active Grants and Contracts:

Grants

Increased Tolerance to Sinbar (terbacil) Herbicide in Strawberry

PI: Courtney Weber

Source: New York State Berry Growers Association

Funding Year: 2000-2001

Duration: 1 year extended

Initial Funding: $2041

Total: $2041

Title: Day Neutral Strawberries for the Northeast

PI: Courtney Weber

Source: North American Strawberry Growers Association

Funding Year: 2000

Duration: 1 year with possible extensions

Initial Funding: $2250

Extended for 2001: $1000

Total: $3250

Title: Biodegradable Films for Establishment Year Weed Suppression in Matted Row Strawberries.

PI: Courtney Weber

Source: New York State Integrated Pest Management Program in Research and Extension

Funding year:2001-2002

Funding: $3280

Title: Improvement of Strawberry and Raspberry Cultivars.

PI: Courtney Weber

Source: Hatch Formula Funds for Research and Extension

Duration: Annual

Funding: 99/00 $6000

00/01 $7000

01/02 $7000

Contracts

Ontario Berry Growers Association: initiated in 2001

Exclusive licensing in Canada of small fruit cultivars.

Initial contract: $5000

Continuing support: $1500/yr. for 8 years

Uni-Veveros, Santiago, Chile: initiated in 1998

Exclusive licensing for small fruit cultivars in Chile

Continuing support for all fruit breeding.

Zanzivivai-Ferrara s.r.l, Ferrara, Italy: initiated in 1989

Exclusive licensing in Europe for small fruit cultivars excluding Prelude and Encore raspberry.

Licenses for patented cultivars

Royalty purple raspberry: 13

Titan red raspberry: 6

Ruby (cv. Watson) red raspberry: 1(exclusive with sub-licensing)

Prelude red raspberry: 9

Encore red raspberry: 9

Jewel Strawberry: 18

Seneca Strawberry: 13

Testing agreements

Sakuma Brothers Farms, Inc., Burlington, Washington: 3 advanced summer bearing raspberry and 2 strawberry selections: initiated in 2001.

Colegio de Postgraduados, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez Alcazar, Mexico City, Mexico: 6 advanced fall bearing raspberry selections: initiated in 2001.

Fruit Research Station, Jork, Germany: Prelude and Encore red raspberries: initiated in 2001.

Swiss Federal Research Station, Waedenswil, Switzerland: Prelude and Encore red raspberries: initiated in 2001

Bruce Porter, Baldwinsville, New York: 2 advanced summer bearing raspberry selections: initiated in 2001.

Ø Post-Doctoral Associates:

List Names

TEACHING AND ADVISING RESPONSIBILITIES:

Ø Administrative Leadership:

Ø Courses:

Ø Honors Program Committees:

Ø Current Undergraduate Advisees:

EXTENSION RESPONSIBILITIES: The major program goal is to provide information to growers, extension educators, and the general public on small fruit varieties that are most suited for their region. Secondary goals include providing specific cultural information on new varieties so that they may be successfully integrated into a diversified cropping system and providing information on changing production and marketing trends.

Approaches and Strategies:

1) Presentations at regional fruit schools on latest small fruit varieties adapted to New York.

2) Field days to illustrate varietal differences and cultural techniques.

3) Provide technical support to county and regional Cornell Cooperative Extension educators involved with small fruits.

4) Cooperative efforts with county and regional staff as well as regional growers to test new selections and varieties in various regions in the state.

5) Provide personal contact to growers to answer questions and offer advice.

6) Cooperate with grower organizations to increase support for the berry industry.

7) Production of comprehensive guides for the production of berry crops in New York.

8) Cooperate with local extension, high school, and university educators as well as media outlets to present information on agriculture and plant breeding to interested groups.

9) Cooperate with county and regional staff to produce newsletters that provide growers with timely information on new developments in berry breeding.

GRADUATE FIELD MEMBERSHIPS: Horticulture, Plant Breeding

GRADUATE MAJORS:

Ø Current: 1-Jeremy Pattison

Ø Total Completed: 0

GRADUATE MINORS:

Ø Current:

Ø Total Completed:

REPRESENTATIVE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

PROFESSIONAL HONORARIES:

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:

American Society for Horticultural Sciences

American Pomological Society

North American Strawberry Growers Association

North American Bramble Growers Association

New York State Horticulture Society

New York State Berry Growers Association

Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

American Association for the Advancement of Science

EDITORIAL BOARDS:

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:

Ø International/National:

North Central Region-22 (NCR-22) Small Fruits and Viticulture Research Committee

USDA Small Fruits Germplasm Conservation Committee

Ø University and College:

Ø Department:

Geneva Genomics Group

Geneva Campus Greenhouse Committee

Seminar Committee Co-chair

REPRESENTATIVE PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:

8th International Rubus & Ribes Symposium.

July 9-11, 2001, Dundee, Scotland, UK

Presentation: Antioxidant capacity and anticancer properties of red raspberry.

5th North American Strawberry Conference

January 14-16, 2001, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

North American Berry Conference

January 11-14, 2001, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Hosted a section of the Pre-conference New York Tour in Geneva: Oral keynote for lunch. "Past, Present, and Future of Berry Breeding at Cornell", January 11.

Member of Breeders Panel: Presented current breeding goals for strawberry

program to Strawberry Production Section, January 13.

American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Convention

July 2000, Orlando, FL.

Presentation: Mapping anthocyanin pathway genes in raspberry.

CCE Eastern NY Commercial Small Fruits School.

March 25, 2000. Kingston, NY.

Presentation: "Raspberry variety review."

Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern NY Commercial Small Fruit School.

March 8, 2000. Glenmont, NY.

Presentations: "Cornell’s strawberry breeding program. Review and audience input." and "Cornell’s raspberry breeding program. Review and audience input".

New York State Vegetable Conference & NYS Berry Growers Meeting.

February 7-10, 2000, Syracuse, NY

Presented oral presentation: "Berry crop breeding program: New directions."

RECENT INVITED PRESENTATIONS:

2002 Long Island Agricultural Forum. January 10-11, Rivrhead, NY. Small fruit research at Geneva.

Department of Horticultural Science Seminar Series. February 19, 2001. Berry Breeding in the 21st Century: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going.

Department of Horticulture Seminar Series September 14, 2000. The Future of Small Fruits Breeding in New York.

RESEARCH PANELS:

RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS:

Refereed:
Weber, C.A. and R.H. Liu. 2002. Antioxidant capacity and anticancer properties of red raspberry. Proc. 8th Int. Rubus & Ribes Symp. Acta Horticulturae. In press.

Liu, M., X.Q. Li, C.A. Weber, C.Y. Lee, J. Brown, R.H. Liu. 2002. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of four raspberry varieties. Agric. Food Chem. In press.

Deng, Z., S. Huang, P. Ling, C. Chen, C. Yu, C.A. Weber, G.A. Moore, and F.G. Gmitter, Jr. 2000. Cloning and characterization of NBS-LRR class resistance-gene candidate sequences in Citrus. Theor. Appl. Genet. 101:814-822.

Weber, Courtney A., Wayne B. Sherman, and Gloria A. Moore. 1997. Linkage and correlation analysis of some traits in peach. Fruit Var. J. 51(4):246-250.

Weber, C.A. and W.B. Sherman. 1995. Phenotype of Petal Size in Peach. Fruit Var. J. 49(3):143-146.

Under Review:

Weber, C.A., F. Gmitter, Z. Deng, and G.A. Moore. 2002. Mapping cold tolerance QTL in Citrus hybrids. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Submitted.

Weber, C.A. 2002. Genetic diversity in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) detected by RAPD markers. HortSci. Submitted.

Extension:

Weber, C. 2002. Biodegradable films for establishment year weed suppression in matted row strawberries. 2001 NY State Fruit Project Reports Relating to IPM. NYS IPM Pub. #219. 58-62.

Weber, C.A. and R.H. Liu. 2001. Antioxidant capacity and anticancer properties of red raspberry. Fruit Quarterly. 9(3):25-27 (front and back cover also).

Abstracts and Proceedings:

Pattison, J. and C. Weber. 2001. An alternative method for assessing the resistance of raspberry genotypes to Phytophthora root rot. Proc. Ann. Mtg. NE Region-Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci.

Weber, C.A. and R.H. Liu. 2001. Antioxidant capacity and anticancer properties of red raspberry. Proc. 8th Int. Rubus & Ribes Symp.

Weber, Courtney A. and William Boone. 2000. Mapping anthocyanin pathway genes in raspberry. HortSci. 35(3):474.

Weber, Courtney A., Z. Deng, F. Gmitter, and Gloria A. Moore. 1999. Evaluation of sequence- based PCR markers in an F1 pseudo-testcross and a BC1 Hybrid Citrus population. HortScience. 34(3):542.

Weber, Courtney, Wayne Sherman, and Gloria Moore. 1998. Mapping Cold Tolerance QTL in Citrus grandis (L.) Osb. x Poncirus trifoliata (L-) Raf Hybrids: A Three-pronged Approach. Hortscience 33(3) 532.

Deng, Zhanao, Shu Huang, Peng Ling, Chunxian Chen, Changhe Yu, Courtney A. Weber, Gloria A. Moore, and Gred G. Gmitter, Jr. 1999. Identification of DNA sequences for tagging disease resistance genes in Poncirus. Plant and Animal Genome VII Conference. www.intl-pag.org/pag/7/abstracts/pag7607.html

Weber, Courtney A., Wayne B. Sherman, and Gloria A. Moore. 1998. Mapping Cold Tolerance QTL with Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSA) in Citrus grandis (L.) Osb. X Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf Hybrids. Proceedings Plant and Animal Genome VI: The International Conference on the Status of Plant and Animal Genome Research. 6:147.

Moore, Gloria A., Ilhami Tozlu, and Courtney A. Weber. 1997. QTL Mapping in Citrus, Proceedings Plant & Animal Genome V: The International Conference on the Status of Plant and Animal Genome Research. 5:36.

Weber, Courtney A. and Gloria A. Moore. 1996. Integration of Genetic Linkage Maps of the Intergeneric Cross of Citrus grandis x Poncirus trifoliata Using RAPD Markers. HortScience 31(4):616.

Tignor, Milton E. and Courtney A. Weber. 1996. Effects of Hydrating, Boiling, Acid Scarification, and Seed Coat Removal on Emergence of Citrus sp., Poncirus trifoliata, and Citrange Seeds. Hortscience 31(4):633.

Weber, C.A., W.B. Sherman, and G.A. Moore. 1995. Linkage and Correlation Analysis of Some Traits in Peach. Hortscience 30(4):857.

Other:

Sanford, John C., Kevin E. Maloney, Jack R. Reich, Donald K. Ourecky. 2001. Red raspberry

plant named ‘Encore’. US PP11,746.

Sanford, John C., Kevin E. Maloney, Jack R. Reich, Donald K. Ourecky. 2001. Red raspberry

plant named ‘Prelude’. US PP11,747.

(Note: Although not an author of the patents, with the help of our patent attorney, Eric Spector, I responded to the patent reviewer’s comments and requests for additional information over 2 years to get these patents granted.)

CONSULTING:

PROFESSIONAL OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVES
My goal is to build upon the leading role that the Cornell small fruits breeding program has held in the industry over the last century. The Cornell small fruits program has released some of the most important small fruit varieties grown today. Heritage raspberry, released in 1969, is the most widely grown red raspberry variety in the world and Royalty purple raspberry is the industry standard for purple raspberries. Jewel and Honeoye are currently the most popular strawberry varieties in New York and most of the Northeast and North-central U.S., as well as southeastern Canada. Growers have depended on the 82 small fruit varieties released from the Cornell small fruits breeding program over the last 107 years to keep them competitive in the changing marketplace.

The main goal in the strawberry, red raspberry, and black raspberry breeding programs is to develop improved berry varieties that better serve the needs of our industry and move the industry into the 21st century by integrating biotechnological advances with traditional breeding techniques. Varieties are needed with superior fruit quality including great flavor, large size, firm texture, attractive color, and extended shelf life. In addition, these new varieties must possess growth and yield characteristics adapted to New York growing conditions with superior resistance to insect and disease pests. To be successful multiple approaches are needed.

My research includes using molecular biological techniques to investigate the fundamental workings of disease and insect resistance and fruit quality characteristics. This more basic information will be utilized together with traditional hybridization and recurrent selection to produce improved varieties of strawberries and raspberries for the New York industry. By creating superior varieties utilizing traditional and biotechnological techniques, my goal is to release commercially successful varieties that consumers recognize as both delicious and nutritious.