Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Welcomes Jackie Dresser

PORTLAND, NEW YORK (March 23, 2017) -The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program (LERGP) at Cornell’s Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory (CLEREL) is pleased to announce the addition of Jackie Dresser to their staff. Jackie was hired on March 16, 2017 as a Research Technician, and as such she will be working as part of the team conducting research activities associated with the USDA/NIFA SCRI project on precision viticulture, Efficient Vineyard (efficientvineyard.com/), as well as with other funded viticulture projects.

Jackie was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of New York, and is no stranger to vineyards. She attended Alfred State College and earned her Bachelor of Science in Land Surveying Engineering Technology. She apprenticed as a Professional Land Surveyor in Training from 2006 – 2012 in tandem with her studies and passed the first phase of NYS Professional Land Surveying licensing exams. Eventually, while working on surveying projects with Finger Lakes vineyard owners, she had an opportunity to join the Finger Lakes wine industry, where she worked in wine production and sales (both retail and wholesale), and worked to bring Precision Viticulture technology into practice in the vineyard. Jackie has already been involved in the Efficient Vineyard project since July 2016 in the Spatial Data Technology Group based at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, so she comes to CLEREL with a deeper understanding of the spatial data management aspect of the project.

While here, Jackie will primarily be responsible for collecting and validating vineyard soil, canopy and crop sensor data; manipulating, computing, and analyzing spatial and research data; coordinating spatial mapping with the project Research Aide; and applying and evaluating variable rate management practices in grower vineyards.

Jackie is delighted to join the LERGP, especially at a time when precision viticulture is a research focus. She believes that this group has a long-standing commitment to making breakthroughs in research and has used innovative extension methods to exchange information with growers, giving them a means to continue to do the work they love and pass the torch to the next generation as the market for grapes and the products made from them gets increasingly competitive. The opportunity to link her background in land surveying with a passion for cool-climate viticulture and wine production is just what she was looking for. Jackie looks forward to being involved in each step in the Precision Viticulture process: collecting spatial data, processing and mapping it, validating the data with manual measurements, developing and executing variable rate management, and repeating the process to observe the effects.

The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is a cooperative effort between Cornell and Penn State Universities; the participating Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus Counties in New York and Erie County in Pennsylvania; and participating industry partners National Grape Cooperative (Welch’s), Constellation Brands and Walkers Fruit Basket. The LERGP extension team provides research-based educational programming for commercial grape growers throughout the year at venues across the Lake Erie grape belt. For more information on LERGP, call 716-792-2800 or visit our website at http://lergp.cce.cornell.edu/

The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a community based educational organization, affiliated with Cornell University, Chautauqua County Government, the NYS SUNY system, and the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.

Last updated March 23, 2017