By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source:
Dennis Gray djg@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (407) 814-6186
Susan Jacobson jacobsons@wec.ufl.edu, (352) 846-0562
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two faculty members in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences received Honor Awards from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., Monday (7/8).
The USDA’s highest recognition for outstanding contributions to agriculture and the consumer was presented to Dennis Gray and Susan Jacobson by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman during the 2002 Secretary’s Honor Awards Ceremony at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.
Gray, a professor of developmental biology at UF’s Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka, is the leader of the Grapevine Biotechnology Research Group that was honored for research on Pierce’s disease. The malady prevents cultivation of popular grape varieties in the Southeast and causes millions of dollars in losses each year in California.
Other members of the group at the Apopka center include Donald Hopkins, professor, Zhijian Li, senior biologist, and Jayasankar Subramanian, assistant in horticulture. Ralph Scorza, research horticulturalist at the USDA’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV., also is part of the group.
In May 2001, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for the use of a group of genes in grapevines expected to make the plants resistant to Pierce’s disease, for which there currently is no effective control. The patent was issued jointly to UF and the USDA, which helped develop the technology in 1996 to transfer one of the genes into plants. Since then, the research has continued at UF’s research and education center in Apopka.
“We believe these genes could protect grape plants against a number of diseases, but our target is Pierce’s disease,” said Gray. “We had promising results early on in the project, and we’re optimistic tests will confirm heightened resistance in the plants.”
Pierce’s disease is caused by a species of bacterium that lives exclusively in the water vessels of a variety of plants. The strain that lives in grapevines clogs the vessels, causing the plant to dry up and die. The disease, which has become prevalent in California, is endemic to the U.S. Southeast, where it prevents cultivation of Vitis vinifera grape varieties, which include the world’s most popular wine and table grapes.
Jacobson, a professor in UF’s wildlife ecology and conservation department, was honored for research on the human dimensions of wildlife management, with a focus on the integration of management with education and communication.
Her work provides the interdisciplinary synthesis necessary for natural resource managers to understand and measure over time the human context of their management objectives and to design effective communications strategies to involve the public and key stakeholders.
“Stakeholder support is pivotal for the success of resource management efforts,” she said. “Research on the human dimensions of natural resource management explores this relationship and provides innovative solutions to wildlife conservation problems,” she said.
Her research has ranged from developing public communication programs about ecosystem management in Florida to community-based conservation programs in Uganda, East Africa. Some of the findings of this work are published in her 1999 book, Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals, and her 1995 book, Conserving Wildlife: International Education and Communication Approaches.
Jacobson received a UF Research Foundation Professorship Award in 1999 and a Teacher of the Year Award from UF’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1996.
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