March 5, 1998
by John Zakour
Geneva, NY - Helene R. Dillard has been promoted to Professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell University at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.
"I am delighted that Dr. Dillard's many contributions in research and extension are being recognized by this promotion," said Director Jim Hunter. "Vegetable growers and extension agents have tremendous respect for her abilities to help them deal with diseases of their crops, and her extension work has served as a foundation for an excellent research program. Technical excellence, dedication to the job, and ability to work with people are responsible for her success. We are fortunate to have her as a member of the Station's faculty."
During her 14 years at the Station, Dillard has maintained a fully integrated research and extension/outreach program. Her research focus has been, "to gain a better understanding of the biology of fungal and bacterial pathogens of vegetable crops, to identify key factors that promote disease development, and to seek vulnerable areas where the disease cycle can be broken." The information gained by her research program is then distributed in a timely and educational manner to the vegetable industry and extension agents.
Dillard's recent projects include: epidemiology of anthracnose diseases with emphasis on Colletotrichum lindemuthianum on beans and Colletotrichum coccodes on tomatoes. Research conducted in her laboratory clearly demonstrated that C. lindemuthianum can overwinter in field soils in New York State, and that the overwintering population is sufficiently high to initiate an epidemic in beans the following season.
Follow up research conducted by her graduate student Nephtali Ntahimpera showed that bean anthracnose can be managed by using mixtures of susceptible and resistant bean cultivars and by deep tillage. Both practices reduce the amount of inoculum that is readily available to infect susceptible plants. Her work with C. coccodes has demonstrated that this fungus can survive in field soils for more than eight years, which means that crop rotation is often ineffective at controlling this disease.
Recently, research conducted with Ann Cobb and Jana Lamboy has demonstrated transmission of Alternaria brassicicola to cabbage by flea beetles. This project grew from conversations with a grower in Oneida county who had observed that flea beetles and Alternaria leaf spot frequently were concurrent problems.
When asked what her most important contributions were, Dillard noted her extension work with the vegetable industry, especially her applied research on C. coccodes which causes anthracnose and black dot on tomatoes. In talking about the future, Dillard noted that she is interested in expanding her research and extension efforts to greenhouse vegetable and herb crops, and increasing her participation in international projects.
Dillard received her B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1977. She received her M.S. in Soil Science in 1979 and her Ph.D. in Plant Pathology in 1984, both from University of California, Davis. She was appointed Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology at Cornell in 1984, and promoted to Associate Professor in 1990. She was appointed Chair of the Department of Plant Pathology in January of 1997. Her promotion to full professor was effective January 1, 1998.
Helene Dillard's faculty page is at www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pp/faculty/dillard
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Contact: Linda McCandless, Communications Services
Telephone: (315) 787-2417
e-mail: llm3@cornell.edu
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