Our common goal is to develop disease management strategies that will increase the profitability of fruit and vegetable producers. This requires the synthesis of an integrated program which draws upon many components, including variety resistance through conventional breeding and genetic engineering, disease forecasting, crop rotation, and the timely application of a fungicide or biological control organism. Research is conducted from the very applied to the very basic areas including studies on pathogen biology, mechanisms of pathogenesis, and development of disease-resistant transgenic plants. The scope of our effort is broadened by worldwide collaboration with plant pathologists, entomologists, horticulturists, and plant breeders.
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The Geneva Department is internationally recognized as a center of excellence within the discipline of plant pathology, both for the quality of its personnel, and the breadth of research opportunities available for students, postdoctoral associates, research associates, and visiting scientists. Many of the department faculty have received national awards from the American Phytopathological Society (APS). At any point in time, the Geneva department is home to 20+ graduate students and 10+ postdoctoral associates and research associates. The department also hosts visiting scientists on leave from their respective institutions. Several technicians are permanently employed within the department, and additional temporary technicians are hired during peak growing seasons. Undergraduate students from Cornell University and several other colleges generally compete for summer employment at Geneva. |
The department recruits students for graduate study, and offers opportunities for advanced research and training for all major pathogen groups in all areas of the science; including pathogen biology and ecology, epidemiology, biological control, host-pathogen interactions, plant improvement (conventional breeding and genetic engineering), and biochemistry of and resistance to disease-control agents. Projects spanning the full spectrum of applied and basic research are developed to address important problems facing the fruit and vegetable industries.
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The department is located on three floors of Barton Laboratory, a modern 6-story tower which is shared with the Department of Entomology. Complete, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities are available for all forms of light or electron microscopy, cytology, biochemistry, molecular biology, tissue culture, plant transformation, bacteriology, mycology, nematology, and controlled environment studies. Two elevators serve all floors, and covered access joins Barton Lab to an expansive greenhouse range. A full temperature range of incubators is available for cultures, with similar large growth-chambers dedicated to controlled environment experiments. |
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Field research and demonstrations can be located on-site upon the approximately 900 acres of fruit and vegetable plantings on the Geneva campus. Geneva is surrounded on all sides by farmland, and within a 10- to 60-minute drive are extensive plantings of apples, grapes, various small fruit, and vegetable crops. Local producers are willing cooperators in many field research projects. A fleet of vehicles is available to facilitate travel both on and off campus.
Office space is available to all incoming students, post doctoral associates and technicians. All labs and offices are equipped with current computer technology (Macintosh and DOS), with unlimited internet and World Wide Web access at all sites. The Plant Pathology Library is housed on the first floor of Barton Lab. Free parking is located adjacent to Barton Laboratory.
The plant pathology faculty conduct basic and applied research in several program areas in the portfolio of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). These include:
Research is conducted on a wide range of crops and diverse organisms. Collaborative research is conducted with members in the Entomology, Horticultural Sciences, Fruit and Vegetable Sciences, and Food Science Departments and the Integrated Pest Management Program located on the Geneva and Ithaca campuses.
The department's extension program is recognized for having a high impact on management of fruit and vegetable diseases. It is consistent and supportive of the mission of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) - enabling people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research knowledge to work. The goal of the department extension program is to disseminate the knowledge necessary to implement sustainable and economically sound methods of disease control. Educational information is disseminated via newsletters (an example is Scaffolds, a newsletter for tree fruit producers), trade journals, extension publications (Publications Office), oral presentations, in-depth educational programs for crop advisors, and demonstration trials. Members in the department work with off campus extension educators in county and regional offices. Four faculty members have formal assignments in extension: Burr, Rosenberger, Wilcox (fruit diseases) and Dillard (vegetable diseases). Other faculty members contribute to the department's extension program on an informal basis.
College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Photographs by Rob Way.