r College of Agriculture and Life Sciences NEWS t bi- ‘ •«. W tv* Fall 2006 > Help Researchers pepysSJuman Health Iso inside Unwelcome Invasive Species Urban Horticulture New York Farm Viability Institute Cornell University any person, any study, every year “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” —Ezra Cornell, 1865 Annual Fund dollars are critical to Cornell University and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. They provide support to students, faculty, and facilities, and directly impact the rich, relevant experience we provide. They enable us to maintain our innovative vitality and respond rapidly to changes here and around the globe. Cornell Annual Fund gifts that are designated for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences allow the dean to respond to emerging needs and priorities and are critical to the college's future successes. In a very real way, these dollars help Cornell and the college deliver an extraordinary education to current students and generate knowledge that benefits all of society. Every dollar matters. Every person matters. Please make your Annual Fund gift this year, and every year. Cornell University Cornell Annual Fund Capital News The Pension Protection Law makes the charitable IRA rollover a reality. You can now redirect your required minimum distribution to Cornell-tax free. Consider joining other alumni and friends who are taking advantage of this unique opportunity to meet their charitable goals. Please note the following while considering your gift, and contact us to find out more: • You must be 701/2 years of age • Tax benefits apply to gifts up to $100,00 from an IRA (401k plans don't qualify) • The provision expires December 31,2007 • The gift must be outright to Cornell University www.alumni.comell.edu/gift_planning Phone: 1-800-481-1865 E-mail: gift_planning@cornell.edu Cornell University Office of Trusts, Estates, and Gift Planning http://www.alumni.comell.edu/gift_planning mailto:gift_planning@cornell.edu Nina Bassuk Finds Best Condi 7 New York Farm Viability Institute Collaborates with CALS Faculty and extension educators are working on nearly four dozen projects to bolster the state's agriculture industry. 11 How Pigs Teach Humans What to Eat Pigs are helping researchers learn how to balance micronutrients in our foods to reduce chronic disease, nutrition-related health problems, and infant mortality. 15 Creating a Sense of Place: Urban Horticulture and Design Two CALS researchers are building communities and mentoring students as they work to make cities more livable. 18 Unwelcome in America Invasive species of plants, insects, microorganisms, aquatic invertebrates, and fish often have no natural enemies and flourish hero-threatening our native species. On the Cover: Professor Xingen Lei (foreground) conducts swine research with Sarah Rice ‘06 and graduate student Koji Yasuda to develop staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients. Photo by Robert Barker. University Photography. Departments 2 Message from the Dean 3 Short Reports Amazon.com for Vegetables Acid Rain Causes Loss of Sugar Maples Moo over Mann Kids Growing Food in Schools NY FarmNet Poised for Next 20 Years Sprayers and 'Biofurniture' Reduce Pollution A Nest Egg for NestWatch Wine Grapes Are Born and Bred at Cornell 23 People BEE Junior Creates Ornithopter MacKenzie Waro '07 Is Keen on Animals Eswar Prasad Is First Tolani Professor Andrew McClung Wins World Food Prize Google's Kurt Abrahamson '83 26 Outstanding Alumni Awards 30 Alumni Notes 32 End Note: Biological Field Station Amazon.com Message from the Dean Far Above ... The Case for CALS T he university launched a $4 billion campaign in October, the most ambitious in Cornell's history. "Far Above . . . The Campaign for Cornell" will empower the university to be a model for higher education in the 21st century, and will position the College of Agri­ culture and Life Sciences (CALS) to enhance undergraduate education, fuel life-altering research, and extend knowledge into the global arena. Our college is guided by four dynamic and interdependent priorities—the land grant mi: applied social sciences, environmental sciences, and new life sciences. These strategic priorities allow students, faculty, and staff to respond to the changing needs of human society and position CALS at the cutting-edge of international research in life sciences, computational and information science, agricultural science, and environmental stewardship. With these building blocks, the col­ lege leverages research and innovation to create knowledge that makes a difference for our students, for the citizens of New York and the nation, and for people around the globe. Far Above will support CALS by generating new funds in three key areas: mission, Students: Learning for CALS students extends far beyond the classroom. Undergraduate and graduate students work closely with professors and outside collaborators to make important contributions to real-world problems. They explore existing challenges and new phenomena in the classroom, in interdisciplinaiy research labs, and with Cornell partners in urban centers, industry, rural communities, and developing countries. These opportunities are only accessible to CALS students when critical resources are available to support need-blind admissions policies, scholarships, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate research experiences. Faculty: The work conducted by CALS faculty and student researchers is recognized interna­ tionally for its integrity, innovation, insight, and service. CALS faculty members guide advances that have the potential to improve lives through economic and social development, by creating and sustaining new businesses, and by reversing the effects of poverty, hunger, and disease. Transformational discoveries require the world's leading scholars and premier facilities. New funding sources will help CALS offer the competitive salaries and prestigious endowed positions • Facilities: Facilities that encourage collaboration such as the Life Sciences Technology Building are fundamental to the groundbreaking work done by CALS faculty members and students. Interdisciplinaiy research and teaching require flexible spaces in classrooms, labs, and learning centers that foster synergy among larger teams of faculty and students. New advances such as gene sequencing and wireless communications demand state-of-the art, flexible, and "smart" facilities with the infrastructure to support existing and emerging technologies. As state and federal funding continues to decline, new sources of support are critically important Far Above will ensure that the best students from all walks of life learn on a campus that is unique in its breadth, depth, and connectivity. Whether you are an alumnus or a friend of CALS, I encourage you to become familiar with the college's fundraising priorities and actively participate in this exciting opportunity to support higher education. I also invite you to keep pace with our progress at www.campaign.comell.edu. Your support helps us leverage our position as one of the world's premier colleges of agriculture and life sciences for developing leaders and improving lives. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences NEWS College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News is published twice a year by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a unit of the State University of New York, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer. The Ronald P. Lynch Dean Susan A. Henry Senior Associate Dean William E. Fry PhD '70 Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, Development, and Communications Michael P. Riley Jr. '87 Senior Director of Alumni Affairs & Development Sharon L. Detzer '88 Director of Communications Linda L. McCandless '74 Editor Elizabeth L. Bauman ’73 Designer Dennis F. Kulis Writers Margaret Barker J. R. Clairborne Craig Cramer Kara Dunn Aaron Goldweber Jeannie Griffith Susan S. Lang ‘72 Pat Leonard Linda L. McCandless '74 Patricia McGlynn Krishna Ramanujan Emily Rejouis '08 Ed Staehr '88, MPS '94 Samantha Wickham '08 Joe Wilensky Production Coordinator Donna Vantine Photographers Robert Barker, Jason Koski, Kevin Stearns of University Photography; Joe Ogrodnick, NYSAES, Gettyimages Administrative Assistant Mary K. Alo Editorial Assistant Samantha Wickham '08 Web site www.cals.cornell.edu Produced by Office of Publications and Marketing at Cornell University 10/06 ML 48M 060625 —Susan A. Henry, Ph.D., the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences http://www.campaign.comell.edu http://www.cals.cornell.edu Short Reports 'Amazon.com' for Vegetables I ube McQuain is passionate about vegetables. Each season she grows nearly 100 varieties in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains In the dozen years she has gardened there, she has discovered which ttables perform best with her shallow soils and short summers. "It's a double challenge to find varieties that taste great and will grow under our less-than-perfect conditions," she says. Now, thanks to a program in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell, McQuain has a new tool to help her find varieties that will both please the palate and fill the pantry. McQuain is one of more then 800 gardeners who contribute to the Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners web site—www.vegvariety.cce.comell.edu—profiling more than 4,100 variet­ ies. Gardeners who visit the site can rate and review the varieties. 'The web site is like an Amazon.com for vegetable varieties, only we don't sell the seeds," says Lori Bushway, MS'oo, a senior extension associ­ ate in the Department of Horticulture. "Just as avid readers visit Amazon to see what books are available and what other readers recommend, vegetable enthusiasts can visit our site to learn what varieties are available and what their fellow gardeners think of them." For example, the burgeoning variety database details more than 560 different tomatoes. Site visitors can trim the list to view such specific types of tomatoes as paste, cherry, or heirlooms. They can also sort lists of varieties by how quickly they ripen or how other gardeners rate taste, yield, and viability. "I joined the effort because I wanted to connect with a larger commu­ nity of gardeners," says McQuain. "I've learned a lot I want to share, and I'm anxious to learn more from other gardeners' experiences. If I'd had something like this when I first started, it would have saved a lot of trial and error," she adds. Julie McQuain is one of 800 gardeners who contribute reviews of vegetables to www.vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu. That's exactly the kind of spirit of sharing Bushway wants to foster. "We want gardeners to know that their experiences are valuable and that they can make a difference by contributing what they know through our web sites," she says. Craig Cramer Decades of Acid Rain Cause Loss of Northeast Sugar Maples A cid rain—the environmental consequence of burning fossil fuels, running factones, and driving cars—has altered soils and reduced the number of sugar maple trees growing in the Northeast according to a new Cornell study The study's lead author, Stephanie Juice '04, was an undergradu- that unfavorable condi- Tim Fahey and Stephanie Juice in the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest. Me when the research was conducted. She su^ysts nons »• mated for maple because add rain makes the sod more In „dk- sugir maples pmduce fcwer seedlings that sutvm- and mature. and more adult trees die, the researchers found. 'J , conclusions after adding nutrients to soil in a test pkx and rep uong favorable sod conditions that existed pnor to 20th centuiy industrial pollution. The result sugar maples on the plot rebounded dramatically. The study piovides "the most conclusive evidence to date" that the decline of sugar maples is linked to the effects of acid rain produced by human activity, says Timothy Fahey, a professor of forest ecology at Cornell and co-author of the study, which was published in the May issue of Ecology. 'The research addresses how a long-term, human-caused change in the environment is affecting sugar maples, which are valuable both ecologically and economically as one of the dominant species in our region," says J uice, who now works for the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Milbrook, N.Y. The research was conducted at Hubbarb Brook Experimental Forest (H BEF), a 3,160-hectare reserve near North Woodstock, N.H., where scientists have measured soil composition for the past 50 years. Nitric and sulphuric acid in acid rain leaches calcium from the soiL The loss of calcium leads directly to more acidic soils. When soils become too acidic, such trees as sugar maples become stressed and have a harder time growing or producing seeds and seedling*. Though pollutioiH-ontrol legislation has helped reduce sulphuric acid by one-third since its high point in the 1960s, nitric add from automobiles has not significantly declined Krishna Ramanujan Amazon.com http://www.vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu Short Reports Moo over Mann T he cow jumped over Mann on April 26, without the laughter of little dogs, nor any dishes running away with the spoons. The iconic fiberglass cow "Cornellia," on loan from Cornell's Department of Food Science, was the centerpiece of a "topping off" celebra­ tion that marked the placement of the high­ est roof beam of the renovated Mann Library building. In a traditional topping-off ceremony, an evergreen is hoisted to the highest point of a construction project for good luck, prosperity, and to celebrate the project's safe construction. Instead, Cornellia was hoisted wearing an ever­ green garland (and a scarf from the Department of Textiles and Apparel). The weather was beautiful, and about 150 peo­ ple from the College of Human Ecology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), Mann Library, and the Department of Plant Biology watched the hoisting. "Cornellia looked elegant, she looked beautiful," said Eveline Ferretti, spe­ cial projects administrator for Mann. A steel beam was signed by students, faculty, and staff and also hoisted during the ceremony. Although Cornellia only weighs in at about 30 pounds, safely hoisting Cornellia via a crane was tricky enough that experts from the Department of Animal Science were on hand to help. Cornellia even had her own handler Vincent Nykiel '76, general manager of dairy operations and the pilot plant in the Department of Food Science. The event featured light refreshments and remarks by Kay Obendorf Human Ecology associate dean for research; Bill Fry, PhD '70, CALS senior associate dean; Bill Crepet, chair of the Department of Plant Biology; Janet McCue, Mann Library director; Beyhan Karahan, prin­ cipal with the architectural firm Beyhan Karahan and Associates; and Chris Marcella, design direc­ tor with the SUNY construction fund. Renovations to the inside of the original Mann Library building should be complete by summer 2007, and the renovated sections of the building are scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2007. Joe Wilensky Kids Growing Food Produce Gardens in Schools across State Girls from Belle Sherman Elementary School in Ithaca show off some "fruits" of their labor. I n Ithaca, primary students at South Hill Elementary School plant apple trees within the protective confines of new deer fencing. On P.S. 84's rooftop in New York City, students tend an herb garden and share the harvest with school staff and others in their lunchroom. At an elementary school in Van Etten, N.Y., second graders grow their own "vegetable soup" and serve it up to fellow classmates. Simply by planting gardens of fruits, herbs, and vegetables at school, thousands of stu­ dents across New York State and at nearly two dozen schools in Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. are learning how to grow food and better understand agriculture in Cornell's agricultural education program—Kids Growing Food. "Kids Growing Food connects children to the food system and to agriculture," says Nancy Schaff director of New York's Agriculture in the Classroom, an agricultural literacy pro­ gram established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in each state to bring agriculture and food systems awareness to schools. "The program helps connect schools to people in the community who work in agriculture. The garden-based learning is integrated into the cur­ riculum and provides a meaningful context for children to learn because it's so hands-on." Kids Growing Food began in 1998 as a part of the literacy program in the Department of Education. Kids Growing Food gardens, ranging from traditional outdoor raised-bed vegetable gar­ dens, apple orchards, and berry patches to indoor classroom, greenhouse, and hydropon­ ics food gardens, have been supported at nearly 300 schools throughout New York. Teachers, who receive small garden grants and attend annual workshops, use the gardens to teach such cross-disciplinary subjects as math, science, geography, history, and English language arts. Gail Shaw '74, a second-grade teacher at Belle Sherman Elementary School in Ithaca, says the garden there provides meaningful and long-last­ ing learning. "Former students not only visit the garden but get their new classrooms involved too. Other teachers in the school have started to use the site as a garden classroom, and still oth­ ers take students there for 'quiet space'—anoth­ er kind of nourishment the garden provides." To learn more, visit the Kids Growing Food web site at www.cerp.comell.edu/kgf Margaret Barker http://www.cerp.comell.edu/kgf —------------------------------------------------ Short Reports NY FarmNet Poised for Next 20 Years T wenty years ago, farming in New York was in crisis. Escalating interest rates and declining farmland prices resulted in severe stress in the farming community. Lenders foreclosed on numerous farms, and farmer sui­ cides were not uncommon. NY FarmNet was established in response to those uncertain agricultural economic condi­ tions. The toll-free helpline linked farm families who were experiencing personal or financial stress with free, confidential consulting. Since 1986 NY FarmNet has responded to over 31,000 requests for assistance. At its 20th anniversary banquet celebrated last fall, CALS Dean Emeritus David Call '54, MS 58, PhD '60, said that, back in 1985, the news of a farmer suicide in St Lawrence County hit him "right between the eyes." He and the college's leadership took swift action, forming a task force to evaluate options for helping farm families in the time of economic crisis. Just six weeks later, the NY FarmNet program was established at Cornell. A great deal of NY FarmNet's success is built upon a cadre of 41 dedicated and well-trained financial and personal/family consultants locat­ ed throughout the state. Many consultants have been with the program for numerous years and have helped a significant number of farm fami­ lies through challenging times of change. As an example of their impact, in 2004, the Farm Link program, an outgrowth of NY FarmNet, developed 26 new farm partner­ video, call 607-255-2924. For more informa­ tion about the program, go to WWW. nyfarmnet.org. Ed Staehr ’88, MPS '94 NY FarmNet ships, assisted 28 farms in creating busi­ ness plans, and facilitated 12 farm transfers. Fifty farms reduced business risks by developing risk management plans. These com­ prehensive program efforts resulted in at least 24 new jobs and over $1 million in additional annual economic activity. In celebration of their first 20 years of service, NY FarmNet developed a half-hour documen­ tary that highlights three farm families who overcame significant challenges with the help of NY FarmNet For a copy of the NY FarmNet Pesticide Sprayers and 'Biofurniture' Reduce Air Pollution R esearchers at Cornell are recipients of the first round of seed money that promises to turn research discoveries into marketable products. Two examples: the world's first hand-held sprayer for concentrated pesticides and microbe-loaded "engineered bio­ furniture" that processes toxic fumes. By partnering business with universities, the Metropolitan Development Association's (MDA) Essential New York Initiative, whose Grants for Growth program providing the seed grants, hopes to improve business competi­ tiveness, create jobs, and help transition more of central New York's economy toward knowledge and technology. The new program, made possible through a $1 million grant, offers matching funds of up to $50,000 for partnerships between companies and regional universities. Cornell, Clarkson, and Syracuse universities were among the first recipients of the grants. The Fountainhead Group, a New York Mills-based company that competes for the $100 million market in garden-sprayer technol­ ogy, is leveraging a combined $45,000 to create the first sprayer to simplify the handling of concent ■ . 1 ted pesticides, particularly the filling of hand-held sprayers, says Andrew Landers, an agricultural engineer in the entomology department at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva (NYSAES), who is working with the company. The collaboration's product could create up Anthony Hay fits prototype biofilters with measurement devices in the Syracuse factory of Triad Technologies Inc. to 65 new jobs over 18 months, generate up to $10 million in revenue, and help the company net four to six new design or process patents over the next year. Anthony Hay, associate professor of micro­ biology and soil ecotoxicology at Cornell, is working with Syracuse's Triad Technologies Inc. to develop a biofiltration system that reduces or eliminates indoor volatile organic compounds and odors in and around industrial facilities. A recent innovation combines waist-high cartridges containing hungry microbes, small low-wattage fans, and such common workplace equipment as tables, benches, and dividing walls. Such "engineered biofurniture" serves as portable, 24-hour air-cleansing biofiltration systems that capture fumes close to the source and lowers emissions levels well below federal standards. The technology would benefit the fiberglass and plastics-coating industries as well as nail salons seeking to reduce their acetone fumes. The innovation could generate nearly 60 new jobs and revenue of $1 million for Triad within the next two years, plus five new patents. J. R. Clairbome nyfarmnet.org Short Reports A Nest Egg for NestWatch I t's incubating now and due to hatch in spring 2007—a new citizen-science project from Cornell's Lab of Ornithology. Funded by a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Project NestWatch is designed to introduce birding and simple methods of scien­ tific inquiry to hundreds of thousands of people through observation of the entrancing drama of new life unfolding in the nest Project NestWatch will collect data on the breeding habits of North American birds. Participants may record and report observations from their own yards or neighborhoods either independendy or with the guidance of an orni- TOologist Or they may opt for "virtual birding," reporting what they see in nests monitored by cameras on the World Wide Web. Combined, these data will provide informa­ tion not only about bird biology but about what sWorks best in getting people engaged in large- scale scientific studies of birds. Janis Dickinson, PhD '87, the Lab's citizen-science director, says, "One intriguing question we'd like to answer is, if people get interested in watching birds online, will they take that interest out into the real world? We're really tiying to reach out to the online audience, hoping to raise appreciation for the natural world as well as understanding of the need for conservation." Project NestWatch is the offspring of other successful Lab initiatives, including the Birdhouse Network's popular Nest Box Cams (www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse), which will be expanded. Millions of people visit this site to watch live images of bluebirds, owls, osprey, and other species building nests, laying eggs, and raising their young. Project NestWatch also owes its creation to the Nest Record Card Program, a project begun in 1965. Since then, participants have sent in more than 300,000 index cards describing where birds built their nests, how many eggs were laid, how many hatched, and more. With the National Science Foundation grant, die Lab will be able to computerize that vast collection, making data submission, retrieval, and analysis easy for people to contribute information about nests in their yards and communities. Keep watch for NestWatch—the Lab of Ornithology (www.birds.cornell.edu) will be releasing more details when this fledgling is ready to fly. Pat Leonard Wine Grapes Are Born and Bred at Cornell C ornell officially debuted three new wine grapes, Noiret, Corot noir, and Valvin Muscat, which are broadly adapted to the wine-growing regions in the East and pro­ duce high-quality varietal wines that are superior to those currently available to eastern growers today, says grape breeder Bruce Reisch '76, professor of horticultural sciences at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. Reisch developed and tested the grapes with Thomas Henick-Kling, professor of enology at the Experiment Station and leader of Cornell's enology program. Noiret, a mid-season red wine grape, is a complex interspecific hybrid resulting from a cross made in 1973 between NY65.0467.08 and Steuben. Corot noir, a mid- to late-season red wine grape, is a complex interspecific hybrid resulting from a cross in 1970 between Seyve Villard 18-307 and Steuben. "Wines are free of the hybrid aromas typical of many other red hybrid grapes," Henick-Kling :idds Noiret is richly colored and has notes of green and black pepper, with raspberry and mint aromas and a fine tannin structure. The mouthfeel of Corot noir is round and heavy, ai id the tannins are big and a bit edgier than in , Noiret," he says. Noiret should be grown on , sites less susceptible to extreme winter tempera­ tures and downy mildew. Reisch says that Corot noir can be used for varietal wine production or for blending. The Bruce Reisch displays some of the grape varieties developed at the Geneva Experiment Station. distinctive red wine has a deep red color and attractive berry and cherry fruit aromas. Valvin Muscat is a mid-season white wine grape with a distinctive muscat flavor and aroma that is desirable for blending as well as for vari­ etal wines. The complex interspecific hybrid grape resulted from a cross in 1962 between Couderc 299-35 (an interspecific hybrid known as Muscat du Moulin) and Muscat Ottonel. "All three of these new grapes were extensively screened and evaluated by the Cornell enology group, in the field by Bruce Reisch and by coop­ erators in industry wineries. It is a team effort," Henick-Kling points out Joe Ogrodnick http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse http://www.birds.cornell.edu LAND GRANT iw , Alex Benson MqCuSiK 1 a MMMM >.l BY KARA DUNN AND PATRICIA MCGLYNN Faculty and extension educators from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are working on nearly four dozen projects designed to bring measurable impacts to farms and help New York's agricultural industry statewide. With $2.8 million in funding from the New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI), some 138 specialists are working in dairy, aquacul­ ture, business planning and marketing, computerized farming, hor . ilture, organic production, food processing and safety, ma ; .< syrup, equine, and turf projects. F< >n (right) of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County ta ■< organic dairy farmer Ed Schefler of Groton, N.Y. ■ he list of success stories includes perennial plant and tree trials evaluated under backyard-style conditions to help nurseries meet consumer demands, the partnership of a baker and peach grower producing fancy-packed peaches for upscale markets, convening $740 barrels of bulk maple syrup into $3,000 worth of value-added confections, and improved production techniques for grape, apple, berry, and Christmas tree growers. It's no wonder Patnck Brennan, New York's commissioner of agriculture, describes the NYFVI as “the most exciting thing to happen in a long time—creating buzz in Albany and Washington." How NYFVI Happened B eginning in the early 1990s, the Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations, New York Farm Bureau, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences developed several plans for enhancing support for Cornell's applied research, extension, and technical assis­ tance that are critical to the vitality of New York's diverse agricultural production sector. In 2003, Ag and Markets proposed, and the other entities supported, the estab­ lishment of the NYFVI-a new, independent entity that would receive funds from vari­ ous sources for research, extension, and technical assistance projects by Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension, SUNY colleges, other academic institu­ tions, and private sector organizations. The nonprofit institute launched in late 2003 with start-up funds from Ag and Markets and in-kind support from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In August 2005, NYFVI opened its office in Syracuse, N.Y. The Institute received its nonprofit corporation certificate from the State of New York in September 2005. The Institute's mission is to enhance New York's competitive position by build­ ing the capacity of agricultural/horticultural business owners and managers to capital­ ize on new opportunities, solve increasing and complex business and production problems, and thrive in an era of rapidly changing technology, consolidating mar­ kets, and emerging new markets driven by changing consumer interests. Through grants programs and its NY Agriculture Innovation Center (NYAIC) initiative (established in 2003 with a $993,000 grant to CALS from the USDA Rural Development funds), the Institute provides producers with technical assis­ tance, educational resources, innovative on-farm research, and a network of diverse expertise in production agriculture and horticulture, agricultural economics, value- added processing, food quality and safety, marketing, integrated pest management, business planning and business structuring planning, waste management, and on-farm business development Thanks to Cornell Food Venture Center assistance, made possible by a specialty crops grant from the New York Farm Viability Institute, Rick's Picks of Brooklyn seasonally processes as much as 2,000 lbs. of fresh produce purchased from Hudson Valley growers. R ic k's P ic ks , B ro ok ly n "The Institute is pleased to provide the funding that makes vital expertise and resources available to New York's agricultur­ al and horticultural producers in response to their identified obstacles and opportunities," says NYFVI Executive Director R David Smith, professor of animal science, whose leadership is possible by loan from Cornell University. "The New York Farm Viability Institute is providing essential funds for high impact extension and applied research projects that will result in direct benefits to producers in the state. Cornell Cooperative Extension is eager and pleased to participate in this important agricultural initiative for New York," says Helene Dillard, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Business Planning Is Key The NYFVI insists on measurable farm-level impacts and emphasizes business planning as the underpinning for all projects. Steve Richards, director of NY FarmNet/Farm Link at Cornell, has provided business planning expertise to 90 producers statewide. "Producers across New York have com­ pleted or are developing plans for every type of enterprise—from direct marketing of farm products, to winery start-ups, to value- added processing, to the marketing of dairy embryos and producing flax and biofuel," Richards says. Richards says one project alone repre­ sents a $6 million investment He conser­ vatively estimates that the 50-plus business plans completed by early May 2006 add another $17 million to $20 million in invest­ ment in New York's agricultural future. In one example, Brian Henehan and Judith Barry of Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and Management have provided groups and individuals with business structure planning assistance. For example, they helped vegetable growers in St Lawrence County form the North Country Grown Cooperative to sell to institutional markets. In their first year, the group of 13 growers added four new cus­ tomers, including a local hospital. Barry and Henehan also assisted the start of Halal Premium Meats, LLC. CEO John Umlauf says the NYFVI-funded project "helped us form the Artisan Farms Cooperative and an investor-owned firm that are now working productively in a joint venture." The coop has about 50 produc­ ers, all with family-owned farms. The group expects to be selling more than 200 cattle, 2,000 lambs, and 2,000 kids each year. A project with farmers, veterinar­ ians, economists, and nutrient specialists, headed by senior extension associate Ellen Harrison, MS '75, from the Cornell Waste Management Institute, and Jean Bonhotal, extension associate with the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, is helping the New York dairy industry evaluate the use of recycled manure as bedding.. Other NYFVI-funded dairy projects focus on manure treatment systems planning, air ammonia emissions, organic production, value-added dairy, waste milk management, and nutrient management Sweetening Returns on Maple Richards, Barry, and Henehan are joining Cornell maple specialist Steve Childs '75, MS '76, Cornell maple program director Brian Chabot Arnot Research Forest direc­ tor Peter Smallidge, Cornell's Uihlein Maple Research Station director Michael Farrell, Cornell's NYS Food Venture Center director Olga Padilla-Zakour, MS'88, PhD '91, and maple producers statewide for a 2006-2007 project that will help producers increase their income through value-added production. "Selling syrup in retail packaging improves producer income," says Childs. "A $740 barrel of bulk syrup can turn into $3,000 dollars worth of value-added products. Only one-third of New York's maple producers are currently involved in value-added pro­ cessing. This project will deliver the tools, hands-on experience, and encouragement the producers need to use those tools." As a result of NYFVI funding, a series of statewide maple confection-making work­ shops began in September. Producers will track production and marketing costs to assist the development of pricing and profit training lor producers in 2007. Five exten­ sion educators are training to better assist ’ 1 producers with value-added product d‘.^ -opment Corn Free of Pests Economically, the successful application of nan iral pest controls that prevent even a 25 percent loss of a sweet com crop can mean as much as $75o/acre in sales for an average Cornell University Horticulture Professor H. Chris Wien, MS '67, PhD '71, is the NYFVI proj­ ect leader for a high-tunnel project. Tunnels at Cornell, Penn State, and on several growers' farms are hosting trials of cover materials and various crops, including cut flowers. C ra ig Cr am er 1 * . harvest of 1,000 dozen ears per acre and an average selling price of $3/dozen. Five farms participated in the NYFVI-funded project with Abby Seaman '80, MS '90, and Mike Hoffmann of Cornell's NYS Integrated Pest Management Program to develop "clean com" for organic and no-spray sweet com growers. The Cornell Vegetable Extension Program and the South Central NY Fruit and Vegetable Program partnered on the project "The growers told us they needed pest management strategies that meet the expec­ tation of their customers, the certification program in the case of organic growers, or Cornell Cooperative Extension of Yates County educator Judson Reid '97, MPS '94 checks a high-tunnel tomato crop. Several growers are participat­ ing in the NYFVI-funded project to evaluate the use of high tunnels for growing tomatoes, pep­ pers, fruits, and flowers. equipment restraints," says Seaman. "The cooperating growers felt that the tech­ niques are economically feasible, and 91 percent of their customers who were sur­ veyed reported satisfaction with the quality of the corn they purchased." Mike Thorpe of Thorpe's Organic Family Farm in East Aurora says the project "allowed us to work with someone with the know-how, the research, and the experi­ ence directly on our farm. We saw the most worm-free com we've ever had and our customers were quite pleased. That positive response impacted the sales of all of our farm market products." Six counties are already interested in the NYFVI equine project that will pro­ vide business planninq to support the horse industry. Here, John McMahon from McMahon of Saratoqa Thoroughbreds, shows a stallion during a winter open house. Adding Value to Foods The NYFVI-funded projects do not stop and start at the farm gate. Food scientists Olga Padilla-Zakour MS '88, PhD '91 and Randy Worobo with Cornell's NYS Food Venture Center (FVC) helped Empire Fresh-Cuts develop a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Plan. Having that plan in place has brought new national food customers to the young $3.2 million, 30-employee onion processing plant in Oswego County. The FVC also provided vital food pro­ cessing assistance to the new partnership of a Niagara County peach grower and DiCamillo's Bakery to produce fancy- packed peaches for upscale markets. More than 20 educators with the various Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) asso­ ciations in Northern New York have also begun providing information and business management expertise to farmers involved or interested in profitable alternative agri­ cultural ventures in 2006. CCE-Jefferson Executive Director Richard Halpin, the project's development coordinator, says the project is responding to farmer-identi­ fied opportunities and complements such efforts as the farmer-led Northern New York Agricultural Development Program facilitated by Cornell. Horse Industry In Saratoga County, six counties are already interested in the NYFVI equine project that to support the horse-related industry there. CCE Saratoga has hired Jennifer Conte to identify the industry7s scope. She says the project goals are to help existing farms implement business plans that will bring at least a 5 percent increase in profitability. Less established and new operations will be planning for at least a 10 percent increase on the positive side of the ledger, Conte says. Nursery Operations In another NYFVI success story, increasing customer interest in herbaceous perennial plants prompted NYFVI-funded field trials of plants under consumer-style growing con­ ditions at Cornell's Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center on Long Island. Full-sun perennial varieties from four New York growers were evaluated for flower, foliage, and blooming quality; resistance to insects and disease; and the level of mainte­ nance required for optimal growth. "We evaluated more than 500 plants under conditions similar to that of the aver­ age homeowner, so we did not use any pes­ ticides, and we used a general purpose fertil­ izer and organic compost before planting in May," says the lab's director Mark Bridgen. "Plant wholesalers are thrilled with this proj. ect because they now have a location where their buyers can visit to view plants under normal consumer-use growing conditions, and in a garden setting. Another 500 plants are being evaluated in 2006. This project has the potential to become self-sustaining when plant breeders and horticultural companies pay for trials of their varieties. Farmer Led and Farmer Driven The ability to rapidly refocus on changing consumer demands was among the top five opportunities identified in the NYFVI's "New York's Nursery/Greenhouse/Turf Industries Barriers to Success Report" The Institute drew on panels of producers, agribusiness representatives, educators, and others associated with specific sectors of agricultural and horticultural industries to develop the priority interest areas for the Institute's grant programs. Recognizing the win-win alliances among researchers and producers that the NYFVI has created statewide, the New York State Legislature provided $5.5 million in new funding to the NYFVI in FY06-07. "Producer participation is one of the key components of the NYFVI program and one of the primary reasons for the program's success," says Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences." For more details on the Institute and its grants, visit www.nyfarmviability.org or contact the New York Farm Viability Institute, 159 Dwight Park Circle #104, Syracuse, NY 13209; 315-453-3823. Peaches Niagara are produced as part of a New York Farm Viability Institute-funded project. DiCamillo's Bakery, Niagara Falls, N.Y. http://www.nyfarmviability.org LIFE SCIENCES How Pigs Teach hat to Eat ♦ • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University • Fall 2006 X Pigs are helping researchers work that balances micronutrients in our reduce chronic disease, nutrilion-rela < toward an agricultui >ur fdbds so we can ed health problems, and infant mortality. BY LINDA MCCANDLESS "M ost people are really surprised when I tell them how closely they resemble a pig," says Sarah Rice '06, a mat­ ter-of-fact 21-year-old who double majored in pre-med and music while she was a student at Cornell. 'The pig's cardiovascular, gastro­ intestinal, renal, immunologic, reproductive, pulmonary, endocrine, and metabolic systems closely mimic those of humans," she says. Rice is working as a research assistant for Xingen Lei. The Cornell professor of animal science is participating in several projects that address the issue of nutrition and human * J T * health using the domesticated pig as a model. Both Rice and Lei take a comparative view about species and believe a balanced agriculture should produce a healthier society. They are helping design a world food supply through agriculture and public policy that conserves natural resources and meets human health and nutrition requirements. 'The purpose of agriculture is to make food, not just money," Lei says. Born and educated in China, Lei, who is now a U.S. citizen, knows only too well that human health and nutrition are not necessarily linked in the West or the East Biofortified Grains In addition to Rice, Lei's swine research team includes graduate student Koji Yasuda '05 from Japan, postdoctoral fellow Prabir Roy from Canada, visiting Ph.D. student Roberto Maiorano from the University of Milan, Italy, and Karl Roneker '84, who is the swine crew farm manager. Since 2003, and his group have been involved in a worldwide collaboration with HarvestPlus, an organization of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, D.C. At HarvestPlus, scientists work to harness the power of plant breeding by developing staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients. The process, called biofortification, breeds plants with higher nutritional value. The plan is to enrich staple crops such as rice, wheat, and maize with bio- available forms of iron, zinc, and vitamin A Sarah Rice and Koji Yasuda are members of Professor Xingen Lei’s swine research team. 'To help plant breeders determine the appropriate levels of nutrients in plants, as well as the enhancers and inhibitors in the different cultivars they are developing, we test the plants in the diets of pigs," Lei says. "Pigs are one of the best models for human nutrition because of their similarity in terms of digestion and metabolism." "Approximately 40 to 50 percent of the world's population suffers from malnutri­ tion resulting from dietary deficiencies in iron, zinc, and vitamin A," he explains. "We call the pandemic a 'hidden hunger.'" He credits the Green Revolution with increasing yields of staple crops in some areas of the world. "People may be getting more protein in their diet and their energy intake has increased, but as a percentage of the whole, they actually consume fewer micronutrients," Lei says. Minor levels of micronutrient malnutri­ tion can damage cognitive development lower disease resistance in children, and reduce the likelihood that mothers will survive childbirth. Deficiencies in iron, zinc, and vitamin A cost the world a bundle. The World Health Organization estimates that most preschool children and pregnant women in developing countries and at least 30-40 percent of those in developed coun­ tries are iron-deficient Iron deficiency impairs physical growth, mental development, and learning capacity and also reduces the capacity to do physical labor. Zinc deficiencies increase the risk of childhood infection, including diarrhea, pneumonia, and possibly malaria. Vitamin A is essential for sight and cell differentiation. Lei cites global statistics that 44 million preschool-age children have visible eye dam­ age due to vitamin A deficiency. Between 250,000 and 500,000 preschool children go blind and about two-thirds of those die within months of going blind. "The costs of these deficiencies in terms of lives lost and quality of life are substantial to a government like China, for instance, Lei says. 'There, where 200 million people live on less than $1 U.S. a day, micronutrient deficiencies cost the government 3to 4 Per‘ cent of the GDP each year." For this project Lei and his team col­ laborate with Ross Welch, professor of plant nutrition and plant physiology and lead scientist at the USDA-ARS in Ithaca; Dennis Miller, PhD '78, professor of food science; HarvestPlus in Washington; and 60 scientists at 20 institutes in China. They concentrate on three micronutrients: iron, zinc, and vitamin A. One answer to eradicating under-nutri­ tion in developing countries is to diversify diets and increase the consumption of nutrient-dense foods such as meat, poultry, fish, fruit, legumes, and vegetables, but it could take decades for diversified diets to be affordable for the poor, Lei explains. Lei cites global statistics that 4.4 million preschool-age children have visible eye damage due to vitamin A deficiency. Between 250,000 and 500,000 preschool children go blind and about two-thirds of those die within months of going blind. Another answer is to provide vitamin supplements. Lei counters that argument too. 'That solution is expensive, distribu­ tion is iffy, and taking vitamin pills daily requires behavioral changes in most cul­ tures that are unrealistic." Instead, the researchers are working on breeding more nutrient-dense crops—rice with more iron, wheat packed with more zinc, and maize strengthened with vitamin A. "We are working on preventing the defi­ ciencies instead of treating them," he says. His research group tests the new foodstuffs on pigs. "We feed pigs the biofortified grains, keep close track of how much they eat, and then do blood tests on them," says Rice, who has worked in Lei's lab for three years. So far, the results are promising. HarvestPlus received $25 million in funding from the Gates Foundation for 2003-2007, and another $25 million in funding from the World Bank and other donors. Directed by an agricultural econo­ mist Howdy Bouis, HarvestPlus's slogan is "breeding crops for better nutrition." Phytase Enhanced In another pig project, Lei and his phytase research team, including graduate students Moonsoo Kim, Jeremy Weaver '03, and four USDA phytase scientists evacuated from New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina, enhance human health in two ways. By developing a novel bacterial Appa2phytase and an efficient yeast expres­ sion system to produce the needed enzyme, Lei has been able to produce a food additive for pigs that increases the ability of the pig's intestinal system to absorb phosphorus. This results in reduced phosphorus loads in pig manure and enables animal producers to comply with the Clean Water Act 'This research helped cut 90,000 tons of phosphorus excretion per year from animal waste, reduced the feed cost of inorganic phosphorus supplementation by $150 mil­ lion per year, preserved the nonrenewable inorganic phosphorus deposition in the U.S., and produced a more competitive phytase for the $500 million world market" Lei says. The phytase that Lei and his research team developed has been patented by Cornell and is three to four times more effective in swine and poultry diets. Phytex, a newly established company in the U.S., markets the phytase technology under the name of OptiPhos. The product which relies on a yeast expression system developed by Lei called inositol hexaphos­ phatase, increases the bioavailability of phosphorus, as well as other minerals in feed rations, thus making them more bioavailable to the animal. 'The action of the enzyme allows for formulating rations with less phosphorus, a nonrenewable mineral, which produces a savings in said formula­ tion," Lei says. Lei developed the enzyme for animal feed; it improves human health because it reduces pollution by phosphorus in animal waste that threatens watersheds like the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the environmental problems in those watersheds are caused by animal waste. But an effective and heat-stable phytase may have another purpose. The enzyme can improve human health and help fight nutritional deficiencies of iron and zinc. In developing countries, where the staple foods are primarily of plant origin, the high abundance of phytase in a vegetable and grain diet reduces the absorption of dietaiy iron and zinc by humans. Using young anemic pigs as an in vivo model, Lei's lab has demonstrated that supplemental dietary phytase can effectively release phy­ tase-bound iron in corn and soy for hemo­ globin synthesis. Mice, Too Lei does not limit himself to pigs. In a study with mice, he and his mouse research team—graduate students J ianhong Zhu, Xiaodan Wang, and Shikui Wang; senior research associate Marko Vatamaniuk; and research support specialist Carol Roneker '84—work to enhance the world's under­ standing of diabetes, another instance where agriculture improves human health through groundbreaking research in the life sciences. Higher than normal amounts of a seleniurn-containing enzyme called gluta­ thione peroxidase (GP) promotes type 2 diabetes—one of the fastest growing and most costly disorders worldwide. "Our studies with mice suggest that we actually need some free radicals to regulate insulin sensitivity," Lei says. Mice bred to overexpress GP, an antioxidant enzyme that helps detoxify the body, developed hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and ele­ vated plasma leptin and became 36 percent heavier and twice as fat as control mice. "Our studies with mice suggest that we actually need some free radicals to regulate insulin sensitivity " Lei says. Mice bred to overexpress GP, an antioxidant enzyme that helps detoxify the body, developed hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and elevated plasma leptin and became 36 percent heavier and twice as fat as control mice. All of these conditions precede the devel­ opment of type 2 diabetes. GP appears to promote diabetes by mopping up too many free radicals, which are needed to help switch insulin signaling on and off in glucose (blood sugar) metabolism. Lei returns to China three or four times a year to lead a research center at the university where he received his master's degree. The center is called Future Agriculture for Human Health and is asso­ ciated with Sichuan Agricultural University "We need a balanced agriculture to pro­ mote balanced micronutrients," he says. "It would save natural resources in the long run, and we would have a healthier society. It would also significantly reduce chronic disease, nutrition-related health problems, and infant mortality. "Agriculture and the life sciences have a bright future if we link production with human health," Lei says. Creating a Sense of Place: Urban Horticulture and Design Large-scale urban development projects-especially those involving plants expected to live for decades-come with complex logistical obstacles, from impenetrable concrete to funding demands to bureaucratic red tape. Two CALS researchers-working separately in different cities on opposite sides of the state-appear to relish the hard work it takes to build community, mentor students, and help make cities more livable. BY AARON GOLDWEBER Nir suk '74, professor of horticul­ ture. inspects a tree in her "Sidewalk to Nowhere" research landscape, close to Cornell's main campus. D uring the middle of the 20th century, the federal govern­ ment and local municipalities started on the path of "urban renewal" with the dream of modernizing cities and towns—large and small. Massive projects were undertaken, from the devel­ opment of the interstate highway system to the establishment of a strip-mall culture replete with miles of asphalt parking lots to complement the miles of new roads. One of the most striking and lasting changes that took place was the deforesta­ tion of urban areas. At the time, developers and government officials saw the work as a way to "cleanse and purify" the environ­ ment in which people lived. Current-day planners, landscape architects, and urban horticulturalists look back on that era as a time of destruction, as the "sense of place" and connections within neighborhoods were eliminated along with the trees and green spaces. "You take away a lot of the fabric of the community when you eliminate its physical infrastructure," explains Paula Horrigan, MLA'87, associate professor of landscape architecture. "During this time of urbaniza­ tion, a lot of places were destroyed, and they took away hundreds of years of com­ munity development." The trend toward urbanization and suburbanization continues, but there is an effort to "green up" the asphalt and answer the question asked by Nina Bassuk '74, professor of horticulture, "How can we fit nature into the densest of urban areas?' Creating urban green spaces that add to the quality of life for people calls for a mul­ tidisciplinary approach that brings together diverse and disparate areas like soil science and community development that are rarely seen in tandem. CT •o Pe te r T ro w br i 3" Thick Bark Mulch nting Soil Mix as Specified Porous Asphalt Pavement Desirable Drainage Pipe Connects co Storm System CU-Structural Soil™ Bare-root tree planting in typical parking lot island or plaza, using Bassuk's method. I P*ef iV I I__ Creating a Sense of Place Bassuk can list many of the benefits of hav­ ing trees—from increasing the economic value of a property to providing savings on heating bills—but she notes that the benefit that most impassions people is one that can't quite be described. "In situations where a road is being widened and trees are being cut down, I've seen people chain themselves to the tree trunks, and I don't think they're doing it because of their air conditioning bill," Bassuk says. "They're doing it because of how the trees make them feel, and those feelings aren't quantifiable. It seems light­ weight to some, but it's important for peo­ ple to have a sense of place that's unique." With the densification of urban areas and the spread of asphalt comes the increasing challenge of growing healthy plants and trees in these environments. "Trees need six basic things—light, car­ bon dioxide, oxygen (for roots and tops), adequate temperature, water, and nutrients. The ability of trees to get enough of these resources determines how well they're going to do," Bassuk says. An urban environment presents intense challenges to a tree's health and survival. Bassuk and her colleagues at the Urban Horticulture Institute (U H I) work on over­ coming these very challenges. While any one city is unlike any other city, and any three blocks in a given city are unlike any other three blocks, researchers work on prescribed ways to approach a site that's heterogeneous. "We come up with a process and with questions to ask that will glean information that will feed into how to approach, design, or remediate a site," Bassuk notes. According to Bassuk, it all starts with a site assessment, where the question is asked: What does this site offer us in terms of a chance for plants to grow? Sometimes a site is so limiting that researchers, arborists, and urban foresters have to do major things like change the soil. Usually they can't change roads, sidewalks, and buildings, but there are always realistic things that can be done. Bassuk says that, in addition to remediat­ ing aspects of the site, they can change the choice of what is planted. "We can also find plants that are tougher and can deal with these stresses. The more stress-tolerant plants come from breeding and selection—trying to push plants in a hardier direction." The work she's doing in the lab quickly makes its way into the classroom. Bassuk and her husband, landscape architecture professor Peter Trowbridge, co-teach the class Creating the Urban Eden: Woody Plant Selection, Design, and Landscape Establishment, a full- year course that exposes students to the most up-to-date information. "Some of our research goes right to the classroom even before it gets published," Bassuk says. Students come away from the class better prepared to answer some of the most challeng­ ing questions in urban horticulture and urban design today: How do you remediate disturbed urban soils? How do you create a place where plants can grow? How do you design places that are interesting, vibrant, and diverse? 'We teach students to identify and use 350 woody plants and the latest urban landscape­ establishment techniques," she says. 'These plants and skills become the palette from which they work." Each year, campus officials become clients of the class as it functions like a design firm. An "urban area" of campus—this year it was next to Malott Hall—is subject to analysis, design, and the final step: installation. According to Bassuk, it's important for the students to have the hands-on experience and the practice of installation. They may understand the theory, but they also need to know how to do it to have any credibility when they go out into the field. Bassuk says the name of the course is no accident "Creating the Urban Eden has a course title that underlines the functions and the site of our efforts: creating wonder­ ful places for people—communities to live in and have a connection with." Paula Horrigan . r * i Rebuilding a Community's Fabric Elsewhere on the Ag Quad, in the Department of Landscape Architecture, Paula Horrigan, too, thinks about the importance of urban green space for the health of a city. But when she thinks about the North Side community in Binghamton, N.Y., Horrigan thinks about a neighbor­ hood that is currently disconnected from its natural environment and sense of wholeness. "J ust about every negative infrastructure thing that can happen to a neighborhood happened there in the 1950s and '6os," she explains. "Major transportation routes were diverted through neighborhoods—whereas before you might have had little houses nestled near each other, now you're at the foot of a highway." The result according to Horrigan, was the further. > ginalization of the people living in the ne .gnborhood. The North Side is the poo. district in the city, with the least owner-occupied housing, neglected and unused space, and untapped assets— it boasts 1-3/4 miles of largely ignored Chenango River frontage. "In the North Side, the community used to be connected to the river and the valley," Horrigan says. "There were homes with fairgrounds and other activities, but when the Army Corps of Engineers built the levee in the 1960s, essentially all that land between the water and the community became destabilized," she points out "These major pieces of infi-astructure ended up separating districts that used to feel like they were right near each other; now it feels like there's a big, wide swath of no man's land in between." Enter the Vision Plan for the North Side Community, Binghamton, N.Y. Over die last four years, Honigan has worked with partners from Cornell University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestiy (SUNY ESF), the City of Binghamton, the New York Department of State, and, most importandy, the Communities of Shalom (CS) and the North Side CARES Coalition (NSCC) to establish a vision of where the N orth Side is heading The words behind the CARES, acronym—"community, action, revitalization, and empowerment strategies"—stress the grassroots, foundation-building groundswell that is at the heart of the recently published vision plan. The drive to rebuild the fabric of the com­ munity started in 2001 when a group of North Side residents formed CS—made up of representatives from local faith groups— and undertook a five-month training pro­ gram in community development Their initiative caught the attention of university, city, and state officials. Soon after, the North Side received a $140,000 grant under New York State's Environmental Protection Fund-Local Waterfront Revitalization Program; another $140,000 in matching in-kind donations and volunteer services was donated by community members, Cornell, SUNY ESF, and the City of Binghamton. In 2002, as Binghamton was recognized as one of New York's 12 demonstration Quality Communities Initiative cities, the North Side was identified the centerpiece. 'The goal under the initiative was to have ground-up planning with the community identifying its own needs and then having the state help facilitate the links between agencies to have those agencies working together," Horrigan says. The result of their efforts so far is a river­ front design plan with recommendations that fit into the city's larger goals of creating a new network of public infrastructure, commercial and residential development space, and open space. Says Horrigan, The anticipated result of these improvements will be improved social networks that will reglue the neighborhood to the river. According to the vision plan, a new river­ front path system will provide many things: habitat for plants, education for local school kids, added environmental quality, and pub­ lic spaces for gatherings and connections to commercial development For Horrigan, the emphasis on local action and involvement will help avoid the urban-planning mistakes of the past which were "driven by experts" at a federal level that had the larger-scale vision in mind to the exclusion of the needs of commu­ nity. The lessons being taught and learned throughout the project extend beyond the North Side. "Much of the work we're doing in the North Side grew out of the Participatory Community Design Studio, one of Landscape Architecture's core classes," Horrigan says. "It teaches students methods of participatory planning and design and enables them to work in real community contexts using specific methodologies that have to do with working with people. "Students learn that to be a good land­ scape architect or designer, you don't just use the same top-down, expert-driven approach all the time. You build local capac­ ity; you favor process over product; you adapt to community needs and timelines." Web sites Nina Bassuk's web site: www.hort.cornell.edu/department/ faculty/bassuk/lndex.html The Urban Horticulture Institute web site: www.hort.corneil.edu/department/ faculty/bassuk/uhl/lndex.html Paula Horrlgan's web site: www.landscape.cornell.edu/faculty/ paula_horrlgan.html Impact statement about North Side project: http://research.cals.cornell.edu/ entity?home=6&ld»16568 http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/ http://www.hort.corneil.edu/department/ http://www.landscape.cornell.edu/faculty/ http://research.cals.cornell.edu/ Unwelcome in America Invasive species of plants, insects, microorganisms, aquatic invertebrates, and fish often have no natural enemies and flourish here—weakening and often killing our native species. BY JEANNIE GRIFFITH hey come on the wind, on the hoof in ship's ballast, through the nursery trade, inside transcontinental passengers and then- luggage, and in shipping containers and their contents—including live plants, food, used tires, and wooden packing crates. They get called opportunists, hitchhikers, biological pollution, America's Most Unwanted, and probably more than a few unprintable epithets. With few or no natu­ ral enemies to greet them, most arrive in the Land of Opportunity and move unchecked onto an open playing field. In a word, they are invasive. Invasive species have been making themselves at home in this country for centuries. Spanish explorers brought smallpox to the New World. The Norway rat has been here since at least the 1770s. The infamous kudzu was introduced—on purpose—at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 and widely adopted as ornamental groundcover. Many alien species have blended into their adopted environments without caus­ ing problems, and a good number have even been welcomed as desirable enhance­ ments to wild and cultivated landscapes. But more than 4,500 of the nonnative spe­ cies that have established themselves in the U.S—including plants, pathogenic micro­ organisms, insects, aquatic invertebrates, and fish—are termed invasive because they pose a serious threat to agriculture, the native ecological balance, the economy, and/or human health. The Great Lakes harbor more than 180 invasive species, most of them transoceanic stowaways, according to Edward Mills, MS '72, PhD '75, professor of natural resources and director of the Cornell Biological Field Station. The explosion in global tourism and trade has facilitated the intercontinental spread of virulent human and animal pathogens. The devastation to plants from invasive insects often amounts to 80 percent of the targeted crops, orna- Opposite page: Zebra mussel (Dreissena poly morpha): Less than 10 years after slipping into Lake St. Clair from the ballast of a trans­ atlantic freighter in 1988, this pesky Russian bivalve had spread to all five Great Lakes and the Hudson, Ohio, Tennessee, and Mississippi f ver basins. The mussel and the closely relat- quaqga mussel (Dreissena bugensis) are " :er feeders mat multiply very rapidly and an coloniz ■.most any surface, including metal, stcr .ncrete, rubber, glass, wood, cloth, anc - hells of slow-moving animals, ' eluding ,-.other. Their consumption of ytoplan eprives some fish species their foe jrce and causes lake water - clear raj. . encouraging the growth of Quatic pla Information provided by New 'erk Sea G ont Extension has helped power mpanies, municipal water plants, and other -ter use - s implement projects to prevent '-e fouling of water-Intake systems. mental plantings, or trees in an affected area. Invasives are second only to habitat loss as a cause of species endangerment Cornell studies estimate that the annual cost to the nation from invasives exceeds $120 billion; estimates of the damage from invasive weeds alone run as high as $35 billion per year. Every year, the effort to rid New York City and Long Island of the Asian longhorned beetle costs between $13 million and $40 million. The annual cost of battling sea lampreys in the Great Lakes sucks half a million dollars out of the New York economy. In addition to directly overtaking native flora and fauna, invasives can set off unex­ pected chain reactions. The notorious zebra mussel and its close relative, the quagga mussel, which Charles O'Neill, a Cornell senior extension associate with identified by expert taxonomist E. Richard Hoebeke (above), Cornell senior extension associate in entomology, this beetle was found attacking Brooklyn's horsechestnut trees and Norway maples (the most planted shade tree in the state) in 1996. Until then it had never been seen outside of Asia. The 1-1.5 inch-long beetles lay their eqgs in cavities in the trees’ bark. The larvae bore their way into the heartwood to pupate, causing vascular damage, and then bore large, round exit holes. Infestations in New York, Illinois, and New Jersey had cost taxpayers over $168 million by January 2005 and resulted in the removal and burning of thousands of trees. Professor Ann Hajek of Entomology has been developing a novel means to apply longer- lasting pathogenic fungi in an effort to control the pest, which has no natural enemies. New York Sea Grant, estimates have cost the U.S. and Canada as much as $1 billion since arriving in ballast water in 1988, not only clog water intakes and foul beaches, but the quagga mussel is also believed to have had a role in the deaths of tens of thousands of waterfowl two steps up the food chain. The noxious mollusks accumu­ late Clostridium botulinum—the bacterium that causes type E botulism—as they filter water at the bottom of the lakes. The round goby (itself an invasive species) and other fishes eat the infected mussels, and the bac- teria-laden fish in turn become the last meal of many a gull, loon, or merganser. Combating even one invader that has few if any natural enemies requires an extraordinary degree of coordination and collaboration among researchers, exten­ sion educators, producers, monitoring and Aslan soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi): After arriving from South America on hurricane winds in the fall of 2004, this fungus found a suitable winter host in another invasive species, kudzu. So far contained to the southeastern U.S., soybean rust can be managed effectively through timely detection and application of fungicides. Though not yet found in New York, its arrival could cause severe losses to the state’s soybean production, according to Gary Bergstrom, professor of plant pathology. With collaboration from Bergstrom and other faculty members, Cornell Cooperative Extension is strongly engaged in a statewide and national early detection and outreach system that includes monitoring of sentinel plots throughout the state. CALS Projects on Invasives A t a CALS-sponsored invasive species forum in May 2006, Associate Dean Michael Hoffmann, professor of entomology and direc­ tor of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, offered the following sampler of current inva­ sives research and extension projects in CALS: • Discriminating and mapping invasive plant species using advanced remote sensing technology • Chronic wasting disease response and risk assess­ ment • Identification of pathogens for the management of the Asian longhorned beetle and the soybean aphid • Soybean rust detection and management • Transoceanic shipping and invasions in the Great Lakes • How climate change might exacerbate problems with invasive weeds, insects, and diseases • Study of Asian longhorned beetle population genetics using modern molecular technologies • Developing biological controls for Eurasian water­ milfoil, water chestnut, and many other invasive plant species • Biology of the European crane fly and avenues for management • Detection and eradication of sudden oak death • Citizen Science in Horticulture: a new approach to studying the invasion of the viburnum leaf beetle • Risk assessment for several insects with the potential to invade New York and study of the pre­ dictability of invasiveness • Integrated aquatic weed management • Ecology and behavior of arthropod vectors of human and animal diseases in the Northeast. regulatory agencies, elected officials, citi­ zen-scientists, and others. Cornell partners with the New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets, Environmental Conservation, Transportation, and Health; the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the National Park Service; the Nature Conservancy; and others. Earlier this year, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) completed construction on a specially designed quarantine facility in which invasive arthropods and their natural enemies can be studied without risk of escape. CALS faculty and staff in plant patholo­ gy, entomology, crop and soil sciences, hor­ ticulture, natural resources, ecology and evolutionary biology, biometrics, and other fields work on a broad range of invasive species problems. Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), the Integrated Pest Management Program, New York Sea Grant, and the Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network also play critical roles in preven­ tion and control, public education, detec­ tion and diagnosis, and eradication efforts. As great as the economic and ecological impact of invasive species has been in New York and the nation, all of the harm caused by nonindigenous species is believed to have been inadvertent In our post-9/11 world, however, the intentional introduc­ tion of human, animal, or plant diseases or crop-damaging insects has become a much more vivid possibility. While scenarios for the intentional release of human pathogens have captured the public imagination, experts also view crops and livestock as potential targets of biological attack. Such possibilities led to provision in the Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative of 2002 for the estab­ lishment of a nationwide animal and plant diagnostic network to protect the food and agricultural system. Cornell serves as the regional hub for the Northeast in both the National Plant Diagnostic Network, with activities centered in CALS, and the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, with activities centered in the College of Veterinary Medicine. According to George Hudler, profes­ sor and chair of the Department of Plant Pathology and director for the northeast region of the National Plant Diagnostic Network, experts have only about two weeks to detect, diagnose, and respond to an outbreak to keep its impact low. Such a short turnaround requires having a trained force of "first detectors" in the field. The network has so far trained over 3,400 Cooperative Extension educators, Pale swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum rossicum). Populations of this lethal plant host for monarch butterfly larvae have exploded in the northern U.S. and Canada since the mid- 1990s, affecting grassland bird habitats and altering forest regeneration patterns. Native to the Ukraine, this invasive relative of milkweed has been in the U.S. for more than 100 years. Antonio DiTommaso, associate professor of weed science in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, is working with USDA scientists to identify weak links in the plant's life cycle that can be targeted for biological control, an effort he expects to take at least 10 years. His laboratory is also investigating whether the plants release root chemicals that alter soil conditions to the detriment of native plant species. crop consultants, and others to recognize problems that warrant further investiga­ tion. At Cornell, the job of developing and coordinating this training belongs to Karen Snover-Clift '97, M PS '98, a senior extension associate and director of the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic in the Department of Plant Pathology and associ­ ate director for the diagnostic network's northeast region. While intentional introductions remain hypothetical, the spread of accidentally introduced invasive species is a constant reality. A report issued last November by the New York State Invasive Species Task Force, which was convened by the New York State Legislature and Governor George Pataki, notes that at least six organ­ isms have entered the state since the group first met in 2004: the European crane fly and the brown fur longhorned beetle, both of which destroy all species of turf and forage grass; the European woodwasp, which poses a real threat to the Christmas tree industry; the swede midge, which has an insatiable appetite for cruciferous vegetables; southern bacterial wilt, which entered the country on infected geraniums, and chronic wasting disease, an apparent relative of scrapie and bovine spongifoi m encephalitis that affects deer and elk. Here in New York, the battle against invasive species has recently been greatly 1 aided by a historic state appropriation of $225 million to the Environmental Protection Fund. This amount includes $3.25 million to implement the recommen­ dations of the Invasive Species Task Force, whose members include Cornell faculty j members Charles O'Neill and Edward Mills, as well as several state agencies and stakeholder organizations. The funds will cover preparation of a comprehensive invasive species management plan and j grants for research, education, and out- ' reach efforts aimed at eradication, early ; detection, and prevention. ’ The National Plant Diagnostic Network proved its value in 2004, when soybean ! rust spores blew into nine southern ' states on the winds of Hurricane Ivan. First detectors had already been trained to recognize the disease and reported it promptly. Four days after the disease was detected, educational materials had been distributed nationwide, and the inevitable spread of the disease, which travels easily on the wind, has so far been confined to that region. In that same year, the National Plant Diagnostic Network was involved in a massive public education and intercept effort coordinated by USDA-APH IS after the water mold Phytophthora ramorum, College of Agriculture and Life Related Web Sites Summary impact statement on CALS programs to combat invasive species: www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/public/impact/ invasivesxfm Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic at Cornell: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu Final report of the New York State Invasive Species Task Force: www.nysl.nysed.gov/scandoclinks/ocm62878832. htm http://www.cals.cornell.edu/cals/public/impact/ http://plantclinic.cornell.edu http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/scandoclinks/ocm62878832 Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus): A fast and frequent biter and one of the most efficient vectors of West Nile virus-also an invasive species-this aggressive invader arrived in Houston, Texas, in 1985 in a shipment of used tires from Japan. It has spread extensively throughout the United States, largely by the same means, but has lacked the winter-hardiness to establish itself in New York and other northern states. Assistant Professor Laura Harrington of Entomology is investigating the effect of climate change on the range expansion Golden nematode (Globodera rostochiensis): This pest of potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant has been confined in the U.S. to nine New York counties for the past 60 years, a glowing success story for Cornell, the USDA, and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. But the pest is also "a time bomb waiting to happen," according to Associate Professor Keith Perry, the Henry and Mildred Uihlein Professor of Plant Pathology. Over the past 40 years, Cornell scientists have released 18 potato varieties, including "Marcy," which is shown here growing near the foot of the Adirondack Peak Mt. Marcy, that very effectively deter newly hatched worms from feeding on their roots and limit their ability to reproduce. Each season that a resistant variety is grown, the golden nematode population in that field shrinks by 90 to 95 percent-without the use of pesticides. But a newly detected strain of golden nematode is proving less discriminating, and the race is on to develop plants that can resist it—a process that typically takes 13 years. At risk is an estimated $0.5 billion to $4.8 billion in losses to production and marketing of nursery, turf, and vegetable crops. and biology of this deadly vector as well as other mosquito species that are moving into the United States. the cause of sudden oak death, ramorum leaf blight, and other diseases, was found in a number of West Coast production nurseries. Those nurseries had shipped 2.3 million potentially infected plants to every state except Hawaii. By the end of the year, inspectors had found and destroyed infected plants at 176 nurseries in 22 states, according to Snover-Clift Despite the magnitude of the threat from invasive species, victories are possi­ ble. Purple loosestrife, a beautiful but over­ whelming weed that had become a fixture in ditches and wetlands from coast to coast has been brought under control in the last decade thanks to Bernd Blossey, associate professor of natural resources, and his col­ leagues at Cornell. In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and many other federal and state land-management agencies, they began releasing four species of loosestrife-loving beetles in 1992 that have been busily reducing loosestrife abun­ dance in over 35 states. As a result pesticide use has been significandy reduced, and native plants and animals are returning to formerly uninhabitable areas. Since the beetles die off as they eliminate their sole food source, the researchers are assured that one problem won't be replaced by another. People BEE Junior Creates a Hovering Ornithopter W atch out Spirit and Opportunity, there's a new rover on the block. At least that's the hope of Floris Van Breugel, who is currently developing a hover­ craft he hopes to send into space to explore Mars. His research project focuses on recreat­ ing the mechanics of a hummingbird in a robot. A junior in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Van Breugel’s inspiration came from the animals around him. After working on climbing robots that mimicked real animals in high school, his research adviser suggested he work on creating a hovercraft. "It is one of the things humans haven't really been able to accomplish, so the complexity makes it interesting," says Van Breugel of his project. He started work on his ornithopter in October 2004 and has come a long way in just two years. Senior Will Regan '06 jumped on board with the project in the summer of 2005, but left to attend graduate school at Berkeley, leaving Van Breugel to finish alone. The flying robot itself is three inches in diameter, with six 10-inch-long wings. It will weigh about 20 grams and will be able to sup­ port research instruments for exploring Mars. However, there would need to be a fleet of the hover machines sent up with each different U ni ve rs ity P ho to gr ap hy Floris Van Breugel '08 shows off his flying robot, instrument, because the hovercraft has to be light enough to fly. Currently the robot is still grounded, with only two of the six wings attached, and a motor too heavy to get it air­ borne. Van Breugel is awaiting the arrival of a smaller motor and the other four wings to add to his robot. Van Breugel expects the hovercraft to be able to go places that planes and helicopters cannot. He recently received a $9,000 grant from NASA, which believes his mechanical bird will be capable of flying in the very thin atmosphere of Mars. If he is able to accomplish this goal, the opportunity to explore the red planet from just above its surface could be a real possibility. For more information: www.people.cornell. edu/pages/fv28/research.html Samantha Wickham '08 New Student Alumni Director Is Keen on Animals Alumni returned to campus last April to dis cuss their career paths with students. From left: James Connolly '06, Kim Wagner '85, Jason Reizh '98, Shaz Kahng '85, Mackenzie Waro '07, and seated: Kate Snow '91. A t the age of 10, after coming to a dairy program on campus, Mackenzie Waro '07 had her heart set on attending Cornell as a student. Now, she does much more than attend school; she is a member of the Western Equestrian Team, Sigma Alpha agricultural sorority, and the Cornell University dairy science (CUDS) club. Last winter, she toured Italy with CUDS over win­ ter break. Originally from Cooperstown, N.Y., Waro has always been inter­ ested in the animals her family owns, and she shows cows, so it was only natural for her to major in animal science. Her future plans are undecided, but she is considering law school and plans on getting a master's degree. Outside of participating with the agricultural groups, she also serves as the student voice on the board of the ALS Alumni Association as the senior student director. "I wanted to get more involved in campus affairs, not just dairy programs," says Waro. She was studying abroad when she got an e-mail asking her if she would become a stu­ dent director and she jumped on it. "I was in a lot of associations with senior and junior members in high school, and our goal was keeping the two groups in sync, so I knew how to bring people together," she recalls. Waro is interested in keeping the alumni up to date on student affairs and also helping stu­ dents transition into involved alumni. Waro and fellow student director Michelle Colban '08 are planning a campus-wide event to bring students and alumni together and help graduating students understand the next step in their Cornell experience: becoming active alumni. Samantha Wickham '08 http://www.people.cornell People_ ___________ Tolani Professorship to Strengthen Cornell's Ties to India A new door will open on the world when > Eswar S. Prasad, chief of the Financial s Studies Division of the International ~ Monetary Fund (IMF), arrives on campus in | January 2007 to start work as the first Nandlal £ P. Tolani Senior Professor in International Trade 3 Policy. A macroeconomist who formerly headed the IMF's China Division, Prasad currently studies issues of globalization, growth, and volatility in developing and industrialized countries and has an extensive research program on the Chinese and Indian economies. He is a graduate of the University of Madras and holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from Brown University and the University of Chicago, respectively. The Tolani chair, established in 2005 by the Tolani Shipping Company, Ltd., of Mumbai, India, is the first CALS professorship to be established by Indian nationals. It honors the company's founder, Nandlal P. Tolani, a 1947 M.S. gradu­ ate in agricultural engineering and agricultural economics who returned to Cornell for a Ph.D. in agricultural economics, which he completed in 1964. The years between his two Cornell sojourns were extraordinary ones for Tolani. Two months after he returned to India in 1947, his home state of Sindh was split off in the Indian Partition to form part of Pakistan, and his family lost all its financial assets. In 1950 Tolani helped his father, P. S. Tolani, found Tolani & Company, a construc­ tion firm that was engaged primarily in building earthen dams for irrigation projects in western India. In the 1960s the company expanded into shipping and river transport and then into a variety of growth ventures before deciding in the 1980s to focus solely on shipping. With the family's fortunes established, the elder Tolani began work in 1967 on an educa­ tional campus at Adipur, an impoverished town­ ship in western India. Through the leadership of both father and son, the Adipur complex has grown to incorporate eight educational and research entities, including colleges of arts and science, commerce, and pharmacy, an eye hos­ pital and research center, and a center for the development of rural technology. Nandlal Tolani has also established several other academic institutions in India, including a maritime institute that he hopes to develop into a university. More than 10,000 students are currently enrolled in Tolani educational institutions. Just as he has championed broadened access to higher education in India, Tolani's career in shipping has been devoted to pro­ moting commerce between India and other world markets. The Tolani professorship is expected to advance his vision for both educa­ tional and commercial exchange. "The establishment of the Tolani Senior Professorship in International Trade Policy will ensure that future graduates of our college have the opportunity to gain unigue perspec­ tives on international business and trade," remarked Susan Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, at the time of the professorship's dedication last year. "This endowment will be especially helpful in that it provides not only for a senior profes­ sorship but also for the recruitment of an out­ standing graduate fellow from India. Both can be expected to establish significant and lasting ties to academic, business, and government leadership in India." Nandlal P. Tolani, MS '47, PhD '64 "This is an especially opportune time in U.S.- Asian relations for the Tolani Shipping Company to endow this position for a senior trade economist at Cornell," noted William Lesser, the Susan Eckert Lynch Professor in Science and Business and chair of the Department of Applied Economics and Management, when the professorship was announced. "Trade rules are changing rapidly, and the U.S. is anticipat­ ing that the World Trade Organization agree­ ments from the past and current negotiating rounds will further open Indian markets to U.S. exports. At the same time, India seeks improved access to markets for higher-value products in the U.S. and other countries. The Tolani Professor will be prominently involved in furthering these goals." Of Prasad’s recruitment as the Tolani Senior Professor, Lesser commented, "Dr. Prasad has contacts with high-level government officials in finance, trade, and commerce and is expe­ rienced in presenting policy recommendations at multiple levels, including to high govern­ ment officials. His appointment adds further depth to our scholarship and leadership in international trade policy and business." Jeannie Griffith Andrew Colin McClung Reaps World Food Prize F or the sixth time in its 19-year his­ tory, the World Food Prize has been won by a Cornellian. He is Andrew Colin McClung MS ‘49 and PhD '50 in soil science, of King Ferry, N.Y. One of three 2006 recipients to share the $250,000 award, he was awarded the prize for helping to transform a large area in Brazil into fertile cropland. The prize was presented Oct 19 in Des Moines, Iowa. McClung, a retired agronomist from the IRI Research Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, and Winrock International, was cited for his role in showing that the Cerrado-a region of vast, once infertile land stretching across Brazil-was severely depleted in nutrients and had aluminum toxicity. His recommendation in the 1950s to combine lime, micronutri­ ents, and traditional fertilizer has enabled the Cerrado to support such diverse crops as coffee, soybeans, citrus, and corn. Since then, Brazilian farmers have boosted the production of soybeans 20-fold with the development of the Cerrado, adding $9 billion annually to the Brazilian economy. "Dr. McClung’s research permitted the open­ ing of an area larger than the total cropland of the United States to intensive agricultural pro­ duction,” said W. Shaw Reid, CALS professor emeritus of crop and soil sciences, "and it has stood the test of time." Other Cornell World Food Prize winners include Pedro Sanchez '62, MS '64, PhD '68, the 2002 World Food Prize laureate and director of tropical agriculture at the Earth Institute, Columbia University; Per Pinstrup- Andersen, Cornell's H. E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition, and Public Policy, the 2001 laureate; the late John Niederhauser PhD '43, the 1990 recipient; and the late Robert F. Chandler Jr, a Cornell professor of forest soils in the 1940s, the 1988 laureate. In addition, the first laureate in 1987, natural ecologist M. S. Swaminathan, was an A. D. White Professor-at- Large at Cornell from 1989 to 1995. Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman E. Borlaug, a father of the green revolution and a former A. D. White Professor, established the World Food Prize in 1986. While on campus last year, Borlaug said, “Cornell has played an outstanding role in international agricultural development in helping to alleviate world food problems.” Borlaug’s only U.S. graduate student was Ronnie Coffman, PhD 71, now director of International Programs in CALS. Susan Lang 72 Greenpeace to Google: Kurt Abrahamson '83 W hen Kurt Abrahamson was graduat­ ing from CALS in 1983, he was faced with the dilemma encountered by many 22-year-olds. “I majored in communication and had a con­ centration in biology and ecology, but when I graduated, I didn't have a clue what I was going to do," he says. So he took a position with Greenpeace in Boston working on campaign and fundraising issues. A year later he moved to Washington, D.Cm to do policy work for Rep. Bob Wise. This led Abrahamson to attend Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he earned a master's degree in public policy. "Then I moved to California and worked for the Harvey M. Rose Accountancy Corporation doing public policy consultation for local munic­ ipalities, helping them run more efficiently," he says. In 1994 he moved to New York City where he ran into a high school friend who was start­ ing an Internet research company-later called Jupiter Research. Abrahamson joined the firm. The company grew from 12 to 400 peo­ ple. went public in 1999, merged and became Jupiter Media Metrix, and Abrahamson served as president and chief operating officer. "At our height we had 1,000 employees, but then the dot-com crash came, and a lot of companies using our services when out of busi­ ness," he says. In 2003, he moved back to Northern California to work for the hottest Internet com­ pany since the tech bubble burst: Google. "I was brought on to launch the sales and business-development side of AdSense, our publisher advertising product We syndicate advertising on third-party sites by serving ads based on the content of pages," he says. Working for a company as fast-growing as Google can mean some fast-moving chang­ es for employees. After just 15 months with AdSense, Abrahamson became Google's direc­ tor of global sales and operations strategy. "I worked on strategic projects to enter the Asian and Latin American markets. We looked at the percentage of Internet traffic to under­ stand which countries would have the fastest impact and payoff for the company,” he says. While Google might handle 50 percent of the searches in the U.S., there are major mar­ kets around the world where Google handles only 20-30 percent. Each of these countries presents Its own challenges, he says, from local competitors to other American companies. Just nine months after taking that posi­ tion, Abrahamson moved into his current one: director of North American sales operations, in which he manages a team charged with reach­ ing the largest advertisers in North America. And, of course, he always keeps Google's larger mission in mind: "to organize the world's infor­ mation and make It universally accessible and useful." Aaron Goldweber Outstanding Alumni Awards OUTSTANDING FACULTY/STAFF AWARDS The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the ALS Alumni Association proudly recognized the following individuals at a banquet held at the Statler Hotel on November 10, 2006. Of more than 80,000 CALS alumni, since 1977, only 176 have been recognized with this awards program. The winners represent a wide range of interests and accomplishments, and each has strong roots in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Each has achieved success in business, professional, or other vocational endeavors; shown leadership on behalf of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell University; and each has made a significant contribution to the betterment of society through community service. Susan R. McCouch, PhD '90 is an associate professor of plant breed­ ing with a joint appointment in plant biology, and a special appointment in International Agriculture Programs. Prior to joining the faculty at Cornell she was an associate geneticist in the Department of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biochemistry with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. As a path-breaking graduate student, McCouch and colleagues generated the first molecular map of the rice genome. With her student Edie Paul, in 1993 she created the first publicly available comparative plant genome database, enabling cereal researchers to readily share research results with colleagues throughout the world. She pioneered the use of QTL analysis in rice and was a key participant in the exploration of synteny among the grasses: the idea that genes of wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, and other grasses are arranged in the same order on the chromosomes. She has pioneered the combining of cultivated rice with closely related weeds to identify useful traits that can improve yield and characteristics like drought and disease resistance. From this pio­ neering start, McCouch established herself as a founding member of the rice genomics community and remains a key figure. McCouch has produced more than 100 refereed publications and many more informal papers. She has trained many of the bright young scientists from developing countries who become part of her network of collaborators. She was