Toasting WSU Viticulture & Enology achievements, July 2015
WSU Plant Pathologist Dean Glawe retires
Happy Trails to Dean Glawe, Ph.D. Plant Pathology ’82, who retired in June from his faculty position in Pullman. Glawe served as a WSU professor since 1996 (19 years!) and was also the assistant dean and director of the four WSU Research and Extension Centers from 1996 to 2002. During his career, he also held professorships at the University of Illinois (1982-1993) and the University of Washington (2006-2013).
Glawe’s research focused on the biology and systematics of powdery mildew fungi and other plant pathogens, as well as yeasts and other fungi associated with wine grapes. He maintained the Erysiphales Database, which includes tools for identifying all the world’s known species of powdery mildews, and the Pacific Northwest Fungi Database, a compilation of host and geographical ranges for 5,000 species of fungi in the Pacific Northwest. He also was co-founder of the online scientific journal North American Fungi, the world’s first online mycology journal that is currently publishing its tenth volume of papers dealing with all aspects of fungal biology.
It’s worth noting that his career ended somewhat as it began–his last graduate student, Leslie Holland, did her master’s research on grapevine trunk diseases while his own master’s thesis research characterized a grapevine disease: Eutypa canker and its causal agent nearly forty years ago. (See “Identifying grapevine fungi may help fight trunk diseases” in this issue.) He intends to continue his mycological research in retirement.
Welcome Chemist Tom Collins
Tom Collins began as assistant professor at the new Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center in June. Collins comes to WSU from University of California, Davis, where he served as director of research at the Food Safety and Measurement Facility.
Collins uses advanced analytical instrumentation and multivariate statistical tools to study the composition of grapes, wines and distilled spirits. He evaluates composition changes while fruit ripens, throughout the winemaking and distilling processes, and as these products age. The goal is to better understand how vineyard, winery and distillery practices affect the composition of grapes, wines and spirits and to correlate chemical composition with sensory perception of these products.
Congrats, scholarship recipients!
The Washington Wine Industry Foundation awarded $31,000 in scholarships for students studying grapes and wine in Washington during the 2015-2016 school year. Seven of the eight scholarship recipients are WSU students: Jati Adiputra, Jesse Aplin, Kaelin Campbell, Zachary Cartwright, Devon Griffith, Eric Gale and Carina Ocampo.
We shared the news of Caroline Merrell’s American Wine Society Educational Foundation scholarship last month, but it turns out Zachary Cartwright was awarded one too! Learn more about his research goals for the next year in this short video:
WSU alumni continue managing Sagemoor Vineyards
Derek Way, B.S. Horticulture ’99, is showing Lacey Lybeck, B.S. Agriculture Food Systems ’10, the ropes of managing the grapevines at Sagemoor Vineyards in Pasco. Way will be leaving for China later this summer to work in wine grape consulting and leadership training. We wish both Way and Lybeck the best in their new positions!
Read more on the Great Northwest Wine website.
Do you know a WSU student, faculty member or alumnus who deserves a cheer? Submit their achievements to Voice of the Vine Editor Erika Holmes at erika.holmes@wsu.edu!