Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center Has New Director, Curator
COLUMBUS, Ohio The
Ohio State University Orna
mental Plant Germplasm
Center has a new director
and curator to head up its
staff.
David Tay, an internation
ally recognized leader in
germplasm management, has
been hired as the permanent
director of the facility, suc
ceeding interim director Jim
Corfield.
Susan Stieve, a well-known
breeder of African violets,
has been appointed curator of
the center.
“David brings the right
blend of academic training,
hands-on-knowledge of
germplasm conservation,
people skills, business skills
and international exposure to
help our center move quickly
to become a world center for
plant research,” Corfield
said.
Tay will be responsible for
creating strategies, goals and
objectives that the center will
then fulfill through its activi
ties. Germplasm acquisition,
characterization, conserva
tion, management and distri
bution are all central
functions of the center. He
has already devoted consid
erable time to creating a plan
outline that will address what
the research and commercial
customers might expect from
the center and how it can be
best organized to meet those
needs.
Tay brings more than 25
years of experience in germ
plasm work including plant
breeding, taxonomy, seed
production and enterprise
management. Most recently,
he has served as director of
the Australian Seed and
Propagation Technology
Centre at the University of
Queensland since 1995. He
has worked with World
Bank, FAO, the International
Potato Center in Peru and as
Head / Genebank Manager
for the Asian Vegetable Re
search and Development
Center in Taiwan.
Tay received his master’s
and doctorate degrees from
the University of Birming
ham in England and his un
dergraduate degree from the
University of Malaya.
Susan Stieve, who has a
solid background in breeding
research that includes Afri
can violets, has been ap
pointed curator of the center.
She leaves her work as a
plant breeder for Green
Circle Growers and trial
manager for Express Seed
Company in Oberlin, Ohio, to
accept the position.
“Susan knows ornamental
plants as a breeder, a grower
and as an innovator of new
genetics. These are just the
qualities we’re looking for at
the center,” said Corfleld.
In her breeding work,
Stieve bred and selected 13
African violet cultivars that
are in commercial production
in North and South Ameri
cas, Europe and Australia.
Additional breeding re
search was conducted on
more than a dozen other
genera.
Stieve has a solid back-
■SOBER
■ LOCATIONS
800 732-0017
ground in trial design, man
agement and evaluation and
has provided technical crop
production assistance to
growers throughout the
country. She has been re
sponsible for all aspects of
operating a complex green
house and field operation
that will serve her well in her
capacity as curator. She will
have day-to-day responsibil
ity for maintaining germ
plasm collections at the
center in addition to being a
vital part of the team that lo
Cabbage Research Development Program
Awards $35,400 For 2001
GENEVA, N.Y. Mi
chael Riner, president of the
New York State Cabbage Re
search and Development
Program’s advisory board,
announced $35,400 in fund
ing for eight cabbage research
proposals during the New
York State Vegetable Confer
ence in Syracuse, in early
February.
“The proposed research
projects were excellent,” he
said. He announced that the
R&D assessment would in
crease to $3/acre in 2001.
“The Empire State ranks
first in total cabbage acreage
in the U.S., which includes
fresh market and kraut cab
bage,” said Cornell Univer
sity vegetable horticulturist
Stephen Reiners, who works
at the New York State Agri
cultural Experiment Station
in Geneva. New York’s 2000
Narrow Operation
Biggei is Better 1 Many of you have
heard that expression used over and
over but at Hoober Inr we are here
to stand up foi the rights of the
Kubota M series nanow specialty
tractois These Kubota compact
tractors are powerful and highly
maneuverable and they are designed
for high performance in orchards
vineyards and other narrow
applications
Hoober offers the following
lineup of Kubota narrow tractors
B7SOODTN I / iS ! HOI’S
MS4OODTN SO 'll! HOI’S
MS7OOSDN W AH HOI’S
MB2OOSDNBC /1 18 (ah
MB2OOOTNB M 88 HOI’S
Hoober Service
Along with every Kubota tiaotoi
(omes Hoober a experienced tractoi
service terhrm iniis that specialize in
hydrostatic tiansmissions and
Hooper’s experienced parts support
personnel to keep your Kubota
running strong
Kubota
Better Results... Every Time.
U»dnlln>i
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 10, 2001, Grower and Marketer-
cates, acquires and character
izes this germplasm.
Stieve earned her bache
lor’s and master’s degrees in
horticulture at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and
completed virtually all of her
doctorate work there before
moving into private industry
in Ohio in 1994.
The Ornamental Plant
Germplasm Center is the first
focused effort by the USDA’s
National Plant Germplasm
System to manage germ
cabbage crop was worth more
than $BO million.
The Cabbage Research &
Development Program Advi
sory Board met Feb. 8 at the
Experiment Station to con
sider the cabbage research
proposals they would fund
with the money they raised
under the $2.50/acre Re
search & Development fund
assessment in 2000. Last year
was the first season the as
sessment was in effect.
Nine research proposals
were received, requesting
$60,000 in funds. Among
them were proposals from
Cornell University research
ers Helene Dillard, Phil Grif
fiths, Tony Shelton, Lisa
Earle, John Roberts, Steve
Reiners, A 1 Taylor, and
others.
Projects funded included
research in weed manage-
Nutra-Flo Pure-Grade Liquid Plant Food has the highMlt
nutrient usability available. When applied in-furrow, 2 x 2, ralfar
or in a transplant solution you have the ability to achieve greater
fertilizer efficiency with lower rates equaling greater profits.
9-18-9 5-15-15
Low-Salt • Chloride-Free • Neutral pH • 100% Available
Contact PARS, Inc. gmwmrn*
Elizabethtown, PA
1800-929-2676 or 717-367-5272
www.PureGrade.com
plasm of herbaceous orna
mental plants. The
germplasm, including seeds,
bulbs, shoot tips and other
living tissue, will be housed in
facilities adjacent to the De
partment of Horticulture and
Crop Science on main
campus. Ohio State Universi
ty’s College of Food, Agricul
tural, and Environmental
Sciences finalized a coopera
tive agreement with USDA in
the summer of 1999 creating
the center as a joint research
venture.
merit, controlling alternaria
leaf spot, breeding improved
varieties, controlling pests
such as Diamondback moth
and cabbage maggots, the ef
fects of hot water treatments
on cabbage seed quality, pro
cessing, and storage.
“Cabbage usually ranks
near potatoes and onions in
value among vegetables in
New York,” said Reiners.
“Since it is important to such
a large segment of the indus
try, cabbage researchers at
Cornell need to keep the in
dustry up to date on all as
pects of production-pest
management, culture, post
harvest, etc. The industry
usually wants to see research
on topics that will benefit
them in the short term-things
like how they’ll control thrips
or rot next year, or what they
can use to control weeds.”
227