YAKIMA, Wash. – The Washington State Horticulture Association recently honored three Washington State University faculty members for their contributions to the state’s agriculture and food industry.
Eugene Kupferman, WSU Extension horticulturist and postharvest specialist at the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center at Wenatchee, received the Silver Pear Award recognizing his contributions to the industry. Kupferman received a grant to study how pears ripen and how that information can be used to increase grower profits. He developed the Tree Fruit Postharvest Journal, now in electronic format to communicate with packinghouse managers and postharvest researchers throughout the word. He also created the Washington Tree Fruit Postharvest Conference, which attracts hundreds of industry representatives and scientists to the state each year. In his acceptance comments, Kupferman noted that he would be retiring from WSU at the end of 2010 after 35 year of service and thanked the industry for their cooperation.
David Granatstein, WSU Extension educator and sustainable agriculture specialist for WSU’s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, received the first ever Organic Industry Service Award from WSHA. His programs focus on orchard floor management, soil quality, ecolabeling, and environmental footprints. He leads the Organic Farming special research grant for WSU and produces annual statistics on the organic sector of the state and beyond.
Gwen Hoheisel, WSU Extension educator based in Prosser, was honored with the association’s Women’s Leadership in Science award. She is conducting trials to evaluate spray application technology for specialty crops to help growers improve their bottom line. She is responsible for web development, videos and other online communication in the Comprehensive Automation for Specialty Crops research project.
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