at Cornell University.
by Margaret Haining Cowles
Geneva, NY - Dr. James P. Tette, of Keuka Village, New York, received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension from the Eastern Branch of the Entomological Society of America (ESA) on February 24, 1997. It was his second time to be recognized in this way; the Eastern Branch honored him with the same award in 1993. Tette is a senior extension associate and the director of the New York State Integrated Pest Management at Cornell University.
"I feel very honored to have received this award," Tette commented on returning from the award presentation. "I really see it as a tribute to all the folks who work on IPM at Cornell, not just to me. Without their efforts, this award wouldn't have been possible."
The extension award is one of several awards provided annually by the ESA to recognize scientists who have distinguished themselves through their contributions to entomology. Criteria for the award include the recipient's academic record and professional experience in extension as well as results achieved through his or her program efforts.
Dr. Tette's efforts in extension work began in 1973, when he coordinated the first Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program at Cornell. He was instrumental in developing a plan that expanded a single-commodity IPM program into the statewide program that now provides nearly one million dollars in state support to Cornell each year for IPM. The IPM Program includes components for fruit, vegetables, turfgrass, floriculture, field crops, livestock, and urban/suburban environments.
The ESA Eastern Branch meeting booklet had this to say about Tette: "Dr. Tette's leadership has enabled the New York IPM Program to flourish and become a premier program of its kind in the United States. Statewide, nearly 1,000 growers per year are taught IPM practices, over 300 growers per year participate in IPM pilot projects, and approximately 25 crops and 100,000 acres benefit directly from IPM programs each year. Although many researchers and Cooperative Extension personnel have contributed over the years to the success of the IPM Program and its direct application to grower needs in New York, it is clear that the inspiration, guiding force, and constant presence behind the success of this program from its inception has been Jim Tette."
Tette works extensively with department chairs and faculty, Cooperative Extension field staff, and the IPM support unit to accomplish the mission of the New York State IPM Program. He also serves on several Cornell committees, including the Sustainable Agriculture Committee. He has led efforts to educate and train professional crop protection consultants and has supported the development of a statewide consultants organization.
An active promoter of IPM at both the state and federal government levels, Tette has been extensively involved in preparing briefings and summary documents in support of both federal and state legislative and budgetary processes. He currently serves as the chairperson for the National Extension IPM Task Force.
Tette's publications include several book chapters, the most recent being "Biologically Intensive Pest Management in the Tree Fruit System" in Food, Crop Pests, and the Environment, ed. F. G. Zalom and W. E. Fry ( St. Paul, Minn: APS Press 1992). He has given more than 200 presentations on subjects ranging from IPM and environmental issues to the use of insect pheromones in pest management.
Tette completed a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry at SUNY Buffalo in 1968, having previously earned M.S. and B.S. degrees in chemistry at Holy Cross College, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and St. John Fisher College, of Rochester, New York, respectively.
(To access 324 dpi scan, click on above photograph.)
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