Grape Expectations

Chris Gerling is a Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Food Science at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, NY. He works with the New York wine industry to solve technical problems, improve techniques and enhance wine quality and sustainability. He also works with the craft beverage industry to create educational programs that support the growth and improved quality of premium wines, ciders and distilled spirits.

Dr. Gohil, a RCE agent form Gloucester County, has worked with wine grapes in California’s Central Valley and Eastern Washington State, a region known for its premium quality wine. His graduate training is in the area of applied whole-plant physiology with an emphasis on the role of environmental factors on plant growth and development. He has researched grape nutrition, irrigation management, and pruning practices to improve fruit quality. Agent Gohil currently serves the wine grape, fruit, and nursery industries in southern New Jersey. He has organized and coordinated numerous extension meetings and workshops and has received national awards for his educational programs and Extension publications.  

Anna Katharine Mansfield is an Associate professor of enology at Cornell’s NYSAES in Geneva, NY. She first worked in the wine industry in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley, received graduate degrees at Virginia Tech and the University of Minnesota, and served as the first Enology Project leader at the University of Minnesota from 2001-2008. Mansfield returned to the east coast in 2009, and currently focuses her efforts on aiding small regional wineries through enology extension, wine sensory evaluation, and research on hybrid wine phenolics and fermentation nutrition.

Dr. Maddy Oravec is an Assistant Professor of Grapevine Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, NY, where she leads the Cornell Grapevine Breeding Program. Her research focuses on the genetic improvement of grapes, with priorities in enhancing environmental resilience, biotic resistance, and fruit and winemaking quality. A central goal of her breeding program is the development and release of disease-resistant wine and table grape cultivars. She also is working on integrating modern phenotyping and genotyping technologies into the selection process to improve breeding efficiency. Dr. Oravec is actively seeking stakeholder feedback to shape breeding priorities, to ensure the needs of growers, consumers, and other industry partners are addressed. Dr. Oravec is a Co-PI on two USDA NIFA-funded projects—VitisGen3 and VxM—which unite expertise and innovative tools to accelerate the development of new disease-resistant grape varieties.

Dr. Peter Oudemans, Director at the Marucci Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension Center, Rutgers/NJAES, leads the small fruit pathology program, which focuses on the development of methodologies to reduce the impact of plant disease and improve fruit quality. His recent accomplishments include ground-breaking work on the biology and control of fungal diseases. Oudemans’ research has also made significant strides through the use of remote sensing for detecting, mapping and understanding the impact of plant disease on these important New Jersey fruit crops.

Dr. Pavlis is a professor and Agricultural Agent at RCE in Atlantic County. His research and extension program focuses on vineyard establishment, as well as increasing the production of grapes. He has also served nationally on the board of directors for the American Wine Society and was president in 1998. Dr. Pavlis regularly appears in print, on the radio and on television educating the public on the intricacies of growing grapes in New Jersey and touting the benefits of drinking wine. He has been a professor for over 35 years, and an international vineyard and wine consultant for many establishments.

Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie serves as an Assistant Professor of Weed Ecology and Management in Specialty Crops at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, NY, part of Cornell University. In addition to herbicide performance and screening studies, Dr. Sosnoskie is exploring novel weed control technologies in fruit and vegetable systems. Her research projects include evaluating the effectiveness of autonomous weeding robots, vision-guided sprayers, cultivators, and laser weeders, and electrical weeding systems, which are aimed at enhancing precision agriculture and reducing reliance on synthetic herbicides. With almost 20 years of experience across diverse agricultural landscapes—including Georgia, California, and Washington—Dr. Sosnoskie brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the proposal. Her commitment to advancing sustainable practices in specialty crop management positions her as a key contributor to the development of novel and effective solutions for weed management.

Dr. Janine Spies serves as the Statewide Program Leader for Fruit IPM at RCE Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources (ANR). She provides support to tree fruit and small fruit growers in New Jersey by supervising scouting and training programs, delivering educational programs, and working with a collaborative network in determining research and programmatic needs across the state. Dr. Spies interacts frequently with stakeholders including farmers, commodity group leaders, extension specialists, county agents, and federal agencies to identify critical pest management needs and investigate solutions. For the past 6 years, Janine served as the Research Field Coordinator for The IR-4 Project, a USDA-NIFA funded program that facilitates registration of pesticides for specialty crops.

Dr. Dave Robinson is a professor at Rutgers University, Department of Geography and the New Jersey State Climatologist. He conducts research of an applied nature that focuses on the diverse weather and climate of the Garden State. This includes topics such as climate change, drought, flooding, and issues involving agriculture, transportation, public safety and commerce. The Office of the NJ State Climatologist also operates one of the most spatially dense observing networks in the nation. The NJ Weather and Climate Network provides timely information to decision makers, the research community, and the general public. Dave has also served on a number of national committees and has published on topics such as archiving of accurate climatic data.

Dr. Daniel Ward is an Associate Extension Specialist in Pomology including viticulture. In this role he provides support to the grape growers in the state directly through educational programming and reactive problem solving. He also communicates through the industry associations, and most importantly, through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension County Agents working with fruit crops. Dr. Ward is the Director of the New Jersey Center for Wine Research and Education which coordinates and supports educational support for the wine grape industry. His research in viticultural has focused on management practices to optimize fruit quality and variety development and evaluation.