Annemiek Schilder is a Small Fruit Pathologist in MSU's Department of Plant Pathology. She is responsible for research, extension, and teaching in the area of diseases of small fruit crops (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, currants, and gooseberries). The goal of her research program is to diversify options for disease control in small fruit crops while improving fruit yield and quality. Her research efforts focus on elucidating pathogen biology and the conditions that promote disease, developing reliable methods for pathogen detection, evaluating the efficacy of cultural and biological control methods and reduced-risk fungicides, and developing sustainable integrated disease management programs.

Rufus Isaacs is the Small Fruit Entomology Specialist and a faculty member in the Department of Entomology at MSU. His research addresses the biology, behavior, and ecology of insects in small fruit crops, and his applied work aims to develop effective insect pest management programs for growers of these crops. He is actively pursuing improved strategies for management of the grape berry moth, and is studying vine tolerance to feeding by foliar herbivores. On-farm research is emphasized as the best way to learn the real-world pest challenges that growers face, and because this is the best venue to evaluate the efficacy of proposed pest management advances.

Tom Zabadal is the Coordinator of the Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center. He is a horticultural specialist in grapes and a faculty member in the Department of Horticulture at MSU.

Jeff Andresen is the State Climatologist for Michigan and a faculty member in MSU's Department of Geography. He is an agricultural meteorologist whose primary focus has been the influence of weather and climate on agriculture, especially within Michigan and the Great Lakes Region. Current and past themes include weather and risk management in agricultural production systems, winter hardiness and mortality of crops and insects, and the use of weather data for determination of plant disease risk.

MSU Extension agents

Mark Longstroth is the Extension District Horticulture and Marketing Agent for Southwest Michigan. He provides extension programming to commercial fruit growers in Southwest Michigan where grapes are one of the major fruit crops. Mark's programming focus in grapes is ICM (Integrated Crop Management), helping growers integrate their cultural practices such as pruning, fertilization, insect and disease control into an economically viable and sustainable system of grape production. Mark maintains his grower contacts with meetings, farm visits, web postings, email updates and newsletters. He has a series of grape-related web pages at: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/vanburen/grapeweb.htm

Duke Elsner is an Extension Horticulture Agent for Grand Traverse County and works with wine grape growers in Northwest Michigan

MSU IPM Program communications staff

Joy Landis is assistant coordinator and communications manager of the MSU IPM Program. Having worked recently with faculty and agents on several publications for fruit growers, Joy initiated the effort to bring the content together in this web site. She is the web's designer and oversees its maintenance.

Andrea Buchholz is a communications specialist in the MSU IPM Program. In addition to being the Assistant Editor for the CAT Alert newsletters, she has assisted in developing pages and the new appearance of the web site.