The American Phytopathological Society

Office of International Programs

OIP Newsletter

December, 2000

Kitty F. Cardwell, Plant Health Management Division, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, 08 B.P. 0932 Cotonou, Bénin Republic; Fax: (229) 35 05 56; Email: K.Cardwell@cgiar.org

 

Whether you believed that the new millennium started Jan. 1st , 2000 or 2001, we are now definitely in the 22nd century, and it looks like we have our work cut out for us.  I’ll dust off my soapbox to remind people that the world is bigger than our own back yards. If famine is a horseman of the apocalypse, crop disease is his groom.  Higher demand for food leads to intensification of production, making the systems ever more vulnerable to biophysical constraints.  Although the US currently produces abundant food cheaply, the system is fragile as pesticides are pulled from the market and pathogens make off with farm profit margins.  It is even more critical in the developing world where, when crop disease strikes it is not profit that the farmers will lose, but the lives of their families.  Our society is involved in the mission of holding off this horseman, at home and abroad. Crop diseases can go pandemic from one year to the next, and plant pathologists who travel and offer their services overseas are usually the first to give the heads up when an outbreak is imminent.  We may be one of the most affluent, educated and technologically sophisticated professional societies the world has ever seen.  Let’s make sure we contribute our knowledge and support far and wide.  The APS OIP offers some avenues for you to make a mark outside of your backyard.  Read on…. KFC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


NEWS BULLETINS

Ø       Library assistance program – Looking for journal set donations!  Donation of APS journals to libraries and institutions in developing countries is being facilitated by CD-ROM technology. Application forms will soon be available on the OIP website. Meanwhile, hard copies are still in demand around the world. Bill Brown (wbrown@lamar.colostate.edu) reported that Cleo D'Arcy donated her library of APS Journals to the Universidade Extadual de Norte Fluminense in Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil.  The University paid for the shipping. Larry Apple at North Carolina State Univeristy has offered over 40 years of back issues. An anonymous APS member has offered a subscription of Plant Disease to a researcher/institute in Cuba. OIP will arrange to have the journal sent to the C.I.A.P. Library in Camajuani Villa Clara, Cuba. OIP wishes to thank the APS member for his generous donation.  Fire destroyed the library of the Turkish Center for Plant Protection in Adana, Turkey. The Turkish institute is willing to pay for shipping and arrangements are being initiated. Another two requests, one from Albanian Corn Research Institute and another from the Agriculture University of Tirana are being processed and funding for shipment is being sought.  To sweeten the pot, OIP is working on a statement of value for sets of library materials so that these might be considered tax deductible donations.

Ø       International travel fund – Call for assistance!! Help help! APS Foundation would like to provide travel funds for APS members and other plant pathologists based overseas to come to the annual APS meetings. If OIP can raise $12,500, APS Foundation will match with $12,500.  The resulting $25,000 will be placed in an endowment and the interest would be used each year without touching the principal. OIP has fallen far short of the $12,500 needed and is seeking donations and/or corporate sponsors. Please contact Rick Bennett, Jenifer McBeath, or Kitty Cardwell.

Ø       Group APS membership revived by OIP - Up to FIVE memberships for the price of ONE. APS is seeking to expand its membership overseas. The group membership plan has been designed to facilitate access and attract plant pathologists in universities or institutions in developing countries. One membership fee can be used to register up to five plant pathologists employed by a governmental or non-governmental agency or university in a developing country. Each of the group members is eligible for APS member benefits and will be in the APS membership directory, facilitating communications linkages with colleagues and collaborators around the world. The application forms can be found at www.apsnet.org/members or from the APS office.

Ø       OIP web page on line – To learn more about the Office of International Programs go to http://www.apsnet.org/members/oip.

Ø       International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences announced- Lawrence Apple (j_apple@ncsu.edu) announced the formation of a new international association of plant protection.  Membership brings numerous benefits, including reduced page charges and ready access to the peer-reviewed, internationally recognized journal Crop Protection.

Ø       Fitopatologia launched - Ed French of the International Potato Center (CIP) (e.french@cgiar.org) announced the start up of a new journal, Fitopatologia, which will accept manuscripts in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.  For more information contact Ed.

Ø       OIP symposium for 2001 will be, "Importance of Plant Pathology in Global Trade".   George Abawi (gsa1@cornell.edu) , chair of the Policy and Program committee, will be the organizer.

 

 


2000 OIP Meeting in New Orleans – Such a spiffy group!

Left to right:

 

Ed French

Eugene Smalley

Thomas Mew

Jim Steadman

Rob Zeigler

Rick Bennet

Noel Black

Bill Brown (fondling Jenifer)

Jenifer McBeath

Kitty Cardwell

Michelle Bjerkness (fore) Norman Schaad (aft)

Lawrence Datnoff
 

 

APS Caribbean Division Meeting

The 2000 meeting of the APS Caribbean Division was held on Oct 31-Nov 3, 2000 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  The meeting was organized jointly with the Dominican Society of Agriculture and Forestry (SODIAF). OIP Director, Rick Bennett; OIP Service Committee chair, Jim Steadman; and OIP Advisory Board member, Ed French represented OIP.  OIP co-sponsored the meeting and provided funds from APS to support travel of symposium speakers. The OIP booth was displayed at the CD meeting and was a focal point of interest by CD attendees.  OIP also distributed a questionnaire regarding special concerns and issues of international students and plant pathologists, which may better address the needs of foreign APS members and non-members.  Applications for Special APS Group memberships also were distributed by OIP. OIP agreed to participate and co-sponsor the 2001 CD meeting in Varadero, Cuba. Jose Amador will be working to obtain clearance for USA members who wish to attend

 

OIP at the First Asian Conference on Plant Pathology (1st ACPP). 

The 1st ACPP held at Beijing, China during August 25-28, 2000 was attended by  OIP.  OIP Director Rick Bennett, was represented by Ed French, who presented the gift of a book from OIP to ACPP President Prof Shi-Mai Zeng. Dr. Zeng  in turn presented OIP a copy of his book coauthored with Shu-Zhen Zhang: “Epidemiological Study on Plant Disease Resistance Breeding”. Ed participated in a Press Meeting on “Advantages and Preocupations Regarding GMOs” that was attended by members of the press from several Asian countries and from numerous Chinese provinces.

 

 

OIP 2000 SYMPOSIUM :

  Promise or Threat of GMO’s in Global Plant Health

Symposium speakers

 

Left to Right:

 

Anne Vidaver

James Cook

Molly Kline

David Sands, chair

Robert Zeigler
 

 

GMO's – a poem by David Sands

 We can choose our friends

 And sometimes our foes,            They may solve problems

 But like 'em or not,                     Of production and weeds,            Now I like to eat flounder,

 We get GMO's.                         But fear itself,                             And then strawberry pie,

                                                  Fills some of our needs.               But mixed together?

                                                                                                   I would rather die!

 Now think of the poor fish

 Who donated his genes,                   The fish gave his soul,

 So that our plants may persist          With no pun intended,             Now genes are like cliche's,

 When the Fahrenheit hits 'teens.      To help Farmer Brown,           The best ones hang around,

                                                      Avoid the frost he fended.       In turnips and yeast,

                                                                                                   And even in hounds.

 Most people think

 That natural is best.                   Given all the data,

 But even spinach                       Though half of it wrong,            Come pestilence and famine,

 Won't pass the Ames' test.        "Sue the geneticists"                 The GMO's we now protest, 

                                                   Is the name of the song.           Will deliver safe genes,

                                                                                                 That are nutritionally best!

OIP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:

Who are the people that make up the Office of International Programs and why were they interested in joining the office in the first place? The OIP is for plant pathologists who have an international component to their work.  They come from in and outside of the USA and offer their expertise and experience whenever and wherever they are needed. There are many avenues by which international interest can be expressed and service given.  So in each newsletter this space will be used to spotlight one member of the OIP to reveal and recognize their contributions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


OIP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT (continued):

Jenifer started her career as a professor of plant pathology and biotechnology at the National Taiwan University, Republic of China.  She moved from there to UC Davis for a MSc and on to Rutgers University for her Ph.D. in plant pathology.  She is currently at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where her interests include developing appropriate agricultural systems for the far north and development of biofungicides.  Jennifer was recently 1 of 12 US delegates who met in Fairbanks (July 24th-28th, 2000) with a trade delegation from China.  Not only did she organize the meeting, but also she was the expert on potato diseases and led the discussion on export of seed and table stock of potato from the US to China.  She presented data on the phytosanitary safety of these stocks when they are produced in Alaska, and the Chinese will use this information for their risk assessment. Very exciting stuff for a humble plant pathologist!

 

UPDATE on OIP and other INTERNATIONAL SERVICE AWARDS

Awards Nominations

As you know, the call for nominations for APS awards was made in the October Phyopathology NEWS.  Information on these awards can be viewed at: http://www.apsnet.org/members/awards/top.asp.  A list of previous awardees and current candidates can be seen in the 1st OIP Newsletter located on the APS, OIP web page : http://www.apsnet.org/members/oip.

 

JANE Award The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for the JANE Award has reviewed 17 proposals submitted for the 2001 year cycle. The TAC feels that the proposals submitted this year are outstanding and it was a difficult but pleasant task to select one for the award. The TAC has made a recommendation to APS Foundation to fund one exceptional proposal. The award winner will be announced in the March issue of Phytopath. News.

International Service Award Selection Process

In the last OIP Newsletter, I mentioned a condition for the OIP international service award of which I had not been aware.  In the guidelines for this award is the following sentence: "Individuals eligible for the award would include those whose position in their home country has afforded them the opportunity to participate in the development of plant pathology in another country." Unfortunately, rather than viewing the individual described above as one of several different kinds of pathologists who would be eligible, the current awards committee has interpreted this to be the exclusive requirement for the award (i.e., "Individuals eligible for the award are restricted to those...").  Thus, this excluded all of our members who have served while employed outside their home country.  For example, U.S. citizens employed by a CG center would be ineligible for the award. 

In talking with Jacque Fletcher, Larry Madden and Neal van Alfen, all of whom served on council when the International Service Award was established, it was apparent that council intended to have eligibility for this award defined broadly.  However, they recognized that the final interpretation and determination of eligibility lies with the Awards and Honors (A&H) Committee. The following is an excerpt from a letter written to Dr. Isaac Barash, Chair, APS  A&H Committee:

I am sure you and your committee members are aware of the very significant contributions that many IARC employees have made to plant pathology outside their native country, as well as the one in which they are employed.  Very often these contributions are made under trying conditions far from family and friends.   In recognition of these hardships and the magnitude of their contributions we hope your committee agrees that these plant pathologists should be considered when recipients of the International Service Award are chosen.

We are hoping for a positive response to this request.

Randy Ploetz, Chair, OIP awards committee.