The American Phytopathological Society

Office of International Programs

OIP

End of the Year Newsletter

December, 1999

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

Much to the sorrow of OIP members (especially me), Eugene Smalley, the ebullient and energetic editor of the OIP Newsletter, has decided to hang up his keyboard. I can’t hope to reproduce his verve and style, but at least I have a computer newer than a 486! In fact, assuming that we are not wiped out by Y2K, we might even be able to move to electronic distribution once the mailing list is updated with everyone’s email. But, as Gene often told us, the newsletter can only be as interesting as the news and photographs coming in. So for the new year, I want every OIP member to send me their favorite photograph of themselves with a caption explaining exactly what they are doing there. This means YOU!

NEWS BULLETINS

Ø Year 2000 Symposium Planned: “Promise or Threat of Genetically Modified Organisms in Global Plant Health”. This should be a riot. Don’t miss it!

Ø OIP Travel Award: will be offered each year for foreign plant pathologists to attend APS meetings. Send applications to the OIP chairman, Rick Bennett; USDA/ARS, Bldg 005 BARC-W, Beltsville MD 20705.

Ø Library Assistance Program: Donation of APS journals to libraries in developing countries will be facilitated by CD-ROM technology. One of the constraints to delivery of APS journals to libraries in developing countries has been the cost of delivery. The current availability of all three APS journals on CD-ROM has made the issue of mailing costs far less of an impediment. Eligibility guidelines are being prepared for applications from libraries around the world.

Ø JANE Award: John and Ann Neiderhauser Endowment (JANE) was awarded to CARE International of Peru for 1999. The Award brings a cash prize of $10,000. CARE International is a valuable partner NGO for extension of agricultural technologies throughout the world. A call for nominations for the 2000 endowment has gone out. Anyone seeking information or wishing to make a nomination should contact Rick Bennett at ARB@ars.usda.gov.

Ø OIP Interaction with Communications Committee. During the 1999 APS meeting in Montreal, Dave Albaugh of the APS Communications Committee attended the OIP Open Forum and suggested ways in which his committee may more effectively work with OIP. Dave suggested that the Communications Committee could better disseminate information about OIP programs including policy statements. Increased public awareness of international issues affecting plant health is all of our business, so any assistance and experience provided is very welcome!

TRANSITIONS

Art Lamey finished 9 years service on the OIP library assistance program. He said he just didn’t have the contacts overseas anymore. North Dakota State University took him off the international playing field in 1977, but not before he work on rice viruses around the world including in Cuba, Thailand, South Korea, and Ibadan, Nigeria. He said that in Ibadan he learned how to take a complete bath with one cup of water. Hmmm, Art’s a pretty tall guy. Anyway, Art’s knowledge of other parts of the world and his dedication to international service have been appreciated in his contributions to the library assistance program.

Gene Smalley was the OIP newsletterman for the past X years. Gene says that now that he is retired, he has some other things that he needs to tend to. When should we expect to see that book?

Kitty Cardwell takes over as OIP newsletterperson and chair of the education committee from her offices in West Africa. Hark the miracle of modern communications!

Jesse Dubin has left CIMMYT after 20 years of employment with the CGIAR center. Jesse has been in international service virtually his whole life. He started as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 (one of the first ones!), and had a post-doctoral fellowship in Chile. Jesse worked as a plant pathologist for a total of 6 years in South America, 9 years in Mexico, and 9 years in South East Asia. That’s a lot of frequent flyer points. Jesse aspires to teach International Agricultural Development and Plant Pathology, though if an interesting consultancy came along he wouldn’t say no.

James W. Lorbeer, T. van der Zwet, and Ed French have been nominated to join OIP, and their names will be forwarded to council for approval in 2000.

OIP 1999 SERVICE RECOGNITION AND AWARDS

Gene Smalley and Luis Sequeira were awarded a Certficate of Appreciation

from APS for recognition of their outstanding contributions to OIP. Gene

served as the OIP Newsletter co-ordinator for 5 years and has decided to step down.

Luis served as OIP Director and has made significant contributions to OIP in

that capacity.

OIP AWARDS COMMITTEE: SOME HISTORY AND A PLEA FOR HELP

Charlie Delp, the first Director of OIP, established the OIP awards committee as a vehicle for recognizing outstanding international plant pathologists. I am sure that we all are aware that plant pathologists who deserve recognition often do not receive it, and that those who work overseas are often the most likely to be overlooked.

I have chaired the OIP awards committee since 1993, and have been fortunate to have the following OIP board members serve with me on this committee during that time: Rick Bennett, Charlie Delp, Norm Schaad, Luis Sequeira, Gene Smalley, and Dave Thurston. Our job has been fairly straightforward:

1) identify outstanding plant pathologists who have had a major impact in international agriculture,

2) gather relevant career information for these candidates, and

3) write supporting documentation for their nomination.

The identification of worthy candidates requires feedback from you and members of the society at large. For your reference, I have listed below candidates who have been nominated by OIP in the past, those who have won awards, those we will nominate in 2000, those for whom we now have CVs, and those who have been discussed as candidates in the past but for whom we have no CV. Although we have not always been successful, I believe we have nominated excellent candidates during the last several years. My hope is that you will help identify worthy candidates and assist the awards committee with nominations in the future. We welcome additional members to the committee, so let me know if you are interested in serving!

One final thing. There are obviously awards other than those that are offered by APS that are relevant to plant pathologists; I have listed some of these below. Although this is far from an exhaustive list, I hope it stimulates some of you to think of colleagues who qualify and should be nominated for one or more of these awards. I hope to hear from you soon. Randy Ploetz, OIP awards chair; rcp@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu

APS Fellow Award OIP nominee (year of award)

Ivan Buddenhagen

Paul Holliday

Carlos Lozano

John Irwin (1995)

Alan Kerr (1996)

Chris Hayward (1997)

Ed French (1998)

Suresh Behari Mathur

International Service Ben Lockhart (1998)

Lee M. Hutchins Award Dov Prusky

Ben Lockhart

David Cahill and Adrienne Hardham

2000 OIP Nominees

Fellow Roger Hull

International Service Robert Zeigler

Individuals for whom we now have cvs

Bill Brown, Larry Claflin, Jim Demski, Jesse Dubin, John Leslie and Thira Sutabutra

Previously suggested for nomination, but no current cv

Phil Arneson, Clive Brasier, Jim Dale, Pierre de Wit, Leslie Dowley and Alfredo Herrera-Estrella

APS Council-Nominated Awards Miscellaneous Awards

National Medal of Science AAAS Award for International Scientific Cooperation

Alexander van Humboldt Award AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize

Alan T. Waterman Award AIBS Distinguished Service Award

World Food Prize

OIP MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:

Who are the people that make up the Office of International Programs and why were they interested in joining such an office in the first place? The office has had very visible and well-known members such as John Neiderhauser, Dave Thurston, and our recent past-president, Luis Sequeira. But there are also many people who are not well known for their international experience that have an abiding interest in what goes on outside of the USA and participate in plant pathology whenever and wherever they are needed in the world. 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 involvement. The editor….

Jim got his MSc and PhD at the University of Wisconsin in Plant Pathology and then moved directly and, apparently, permanently to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. This all took place over 30 years ago which means that Jim should actually have more grey hair showing than he does. Maybe he started really young.

Like many American agricultural scientists, Jim took advantage of the USAID collaborative research support project (CRSP), when in 1982 he responded to a call for research proposals on bean disease resistance for the Dominican Republic. The bean CRSP has continued to provide Jim the opportunity for travel and collaboration on bean diseases in Latin America, in Asia, and since the 1990’s in North and Eastern Africa as well. The beauty of the CRSP mechanism for international co-operation is that not only does the scientist benefit, but so do U.S. growers and universities, and the partner countries throughout the world. Jim said, “ We trained CRSP fellows in the US. The research that came from this project benefited US growers, while the trainees continue to have collaboration in many locations. For example, a World Bank project in San Juan watershed has relied on bean CRSP trained scientists to carry out their project.” Way to go Jim! It must be very satisfying to have that kind of impact.

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If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away. –Henry David Thoreau