The American Phytopathological Society

Office of International Programs

OIP Newsletter

August, 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

It is hard to believe that another APS meeting is upon us, and it is time for another OIP newsletter. I didn’t receive any feedback about the December 1999 newsletter, so it is hard to know if anyone received and read it. This newsletter should be something of an interactive process if it is going to be interesting. So please keep in mind that we need photos, anecdotes, travel reports, juicy gossip, and interest pathology problems from OIP members and readers from around the world. Let me hear from you! KFC

NEWS BULLETINS

Ø Year 2000 Symposium entitled “Promise or Threat of Genetically Modified Organisms in Global Plant Health” is scheduled for Wednesday, August 16^th, at the APS meetings. Don’t miss it!

Ø Look for the new and improved OIP booth (thanks to APS Council) and an informative poster prepared by Jim Steadman on the Bean-Cowpea CRSP at the New Orleans APS meetings.

Ø Library Assistance Program: Donation of APS journals to libraries and institutions in developing countries is being facilitated by CD-ROM technology. Guidelines have been established to help determine which institutions could benefit from this program and a list of libraries is being drawn up. Libraries or institutions (not individuals) will be asked to submit a written request to the OIP Library Assistance program stating that these CD Roms will not be sold for profit and they will be used in the library. Recipient institutes and/or libraries will be encouraged to participate in the Agricultural Libraries Network (AgLiNet) which is a document delivery system.

Ø JANE Award: John and Ann Neiderhauser Endowment (JANE) was awarded to Silvia Fernandez of Pictipalpa, Mexico City for 2000. The Award, which brings a cash prize of $10,000, is made to scientists from developing countries, who are working on diseases caused by Phytopthora spp. (and in particular, late blight). A call for nominations for the 2001 endowment will appear in the new Phtyopathology News and other sources. Deadline is October 31, 2000. Anyone seeking information or wishing to make a nomination should contact Rick Bennett at rbennett@ars.usda.gov.

Ø OIP Special Recognition

Luis Sequeira was awarded a certficate of appreciation by Rick Bennett for recognition of his outstanding contributions to OIP. Luis served as OIP Director and continues as an active board member.

Gene Smalley also received an award of appreciation from Rick for having served as the OIP Newsletter co-ordinator for 5 years.

The OIP Meetings are Interesting!

OIP Meeting 1999, Montreal, Canada

Jessie Duban Solke De Boer Jim Steadman Rick Bennett

People respond to meetings differently. Rick just has a good time, while Jim works on various documents at once. Solke is quite serious (or asleep) while Jessie wonders what the heck is going on.

From Gene Smalley’s head top, it is hard to tell how he is.

2000 Meeting Agenda

August 12, 2000 12:00-1:30; OIP Advisory Board Lunch (Board members); 1:30-4:00 Open meeting.

I. Call to Order:

II. Review of the Agenda, Minutes of the Montreal meeting, and Reports to Council:

III.Report from the Director:

IV.Schedule of OIP Activities at New Orleans:

V. Reports of Board Members and Committee Chairs:

A. Policies and Programs Committee GEORGE ABAWI, Chair

Topics for symposia, colloquia, or discussion sessions at the 2001 APS annual meeting.

Sponsoring international meetings, workshops, etc.

APS Group Memberships

Nominations for new members of PPC

B. Education Committee KITTY CARDWELL, Chair

OIP Newsletter and Liaison

APS Net Information & Phytopathology News

OIP Website

Plans for the 2001 Booth

International Resources & Linkages

C. Research Committee NORM SCHAAD, Chair

JANE Fund and other research projects

New committee members nominations

Award Nominations

D. Service Committee J. STEADMAN, Chair

Library Assistance – Journal Donations (B.Brown)

OIP-Foundation Travel Fund

OIP-OPAE Liaison

Industry Relations

CD-ROM distribution

APS Awards (Ploetz)

OIP-Grad Student Committee Liaison

VI OIP Budget

VII New Business

VIII Adjourn

Don’t Miss the OIP Advisory Board Breakfast

August 16, 2000 7:30-10:30 Oak Manor Room (Guests Welcome after 8:30).

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 interest in international development and offer their services around the world. 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 involvement.

Bill Brown has featured in the OIP newsletter in the recent past for his travel adventures, and he is still at it! This year he participated in a Volunteer Overseas Co-operative Assistance Program (VOCA) that took him to the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza strip under the auspices of the American Near East Relief Agencies. His mission was to evaluate the status of small farm IPM and to develop a position paper and make recommendations to interested non-governmental organizations and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Palestinian authorities. He visited all around the country giving workshops on small farm IPM, vector management, and soil solarization. The biggest problem he saw was with Fusarium and Meloidogyne spp. wilts of tomatoes and cucumbers under intensive greenhouse cultivation. The land pressure is so intense there that there are not many land use management alternatives. Bill reported that he saw excessive pesticide utilization, including the banned Methyl Bromide, in the conventional greenhouse management practices, but there were good functional solutions including biological control and soil solarization being practiced by some farmers. For further information you can contact Bill at wbrown@lamar.colostate.edu.

Bill was awarded the APS Lifetime Achievement Award for the Pacific Division this year. Way to go!

UPDATE on OIP and other INTERNATIONAL SERVICE AWARDS

Randy Ploetz, Chair, OIP awards committee,

Ø Chris Mundt was recognized with the APS International Service Award for the year 2000. A former OIP board member, Chris Mundt, will receive the award at the annual meeting this year. Many of you will recall Chris's role in formulating and authoring our position statement on world hunger and population issues. Chris has been quite active overseas, particularly in cooperative work at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Chris is a faculty member at Oregon State University.

Ø Roger Hull, the OIP nominee for APS Fellow, was approved to become an APS fellow this year. Roger has had a long and distinguished career as a plant virologist and international plant pathologist. Milt Zaitlin, an outstanding virologist in his own right, wrote of Roger: "I cannot think of any other plant virologist active today with greater experience and understanding of the fundamental and applied aspects of the discipline." Roger's career began at Makerere University in Uganda and later continued at Cambridge and the John Innes Institute. He has conducted extensive cooperative research overseas, and has had a very significant impact on our understanding of numerous viral-induced diseases of plants. Among his seminal accomplishments are the recognition that the viral agents of rice tungro have an RNA and DNA genome, and that the banana streak virus is integrated into the genome of banana; the later was the first report of a viral pathogen integrating in the genome of a plant host. Roger has written 161 papers in referred journals, 26 book chapters and six reviews, and is writing the 4th edition of Plant Virology, the "Bible" in this field. He is currently an Emeritus Research Fellow at John Innes and an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia and Peking University.

Ø Kitty Cardwell received an honorary fellowship award by the Maize Association of Nigeria for her efforts in controlling the Maize Downy Mildew disease in that country. Kitty is a plant pathologist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture based in Ibadan, Nigeria.

I should mention a condition for the OIP international service award of which I was not aware until recently. 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 excludes 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. Personally, I feel this is an unnecessary and counterproductive stipulation.

In the future, the OIP awards committee will attempt to convince the APS Awards and Honors Committee that a broader interpretation of these guidelines is needed. In the mean time, however, please be aware of this interpretation of the rules when you consider nominating one of your colleagues for this important award. Please send nominations to me at: rcp@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu