Dr. Taryn Bauerle Lab Director Visit my profile page.

Dr. Michela Centinari
Visiting scholar

I'm a visiting scholar from Italy where I received my Ph.D. from the University of Bologna in 2008.  My doctoral research focused mainly on water management in the vineyard with specific regard to the effects of floor management (cover crop, tilled soil) on total vineyard water use.

My research was designed to determine the reliability of available methods used to study cover crop water use, to analyze the relationship between vineyard cover crop water use and the climatic factors that drive evaporative demand, and to investigate the effect mowing has on the cover crop in terms of water use.

My research interests also involved the effects of floor (cover crop vs. tilled soil) and crop management (early defoliation, cluster thinning) on grape yield and quality and on the physiological processes of the vines. My current position with Dr. Bauerle is concerned with further understanding the mechanisms by which rootstock vigor influences the scion growth and anatomical development including xylem vessel development and relative propensity for embolism production with an emphasis on the role of whole plant water relations on this phenomenon. 

Dr. Cyd Hamilton
Post-doc research associate

Broadly, I am interested in symbiotic interactions, how they evolve, what maintains them, and what determines their outcome (mutualistic versus antagonistic).  It is the diversity of foliar fungal endophyte symbioses and the complex ecological consequences of these endophyte-host interactions that capture my attention.  I seek to explore fungal endophyte-host interactions by incorporating population and ecological genetics as well as evolutionary theory.  My dissertation research centered on foliar fungal endophytes in the genus Neotyphodium and their grass hosts. This symbiosis is dynamic, responding to various abiotic and biotic parameters which change the interaction from mutualistic to neutral to antagonistic.  My research findings in addition to others support the inclusion of these diverse ubiquitous community members when considering plant population, community, and ecosystem level processes.  Foliar fungal endophytes are important components in the context of agronomy, invasive species, and community conservation.   View my profile page.

Vinay Pagay
Ph.D. candidate

I am currently pursuing a doctorate in viticulture with a focus on grapevine stress physiology. I am interested in investigating the effects of environmental stresses, water stress in particular, on the physiological development of grapevines as well as the effect of these stresses on grape and wine composition and quality. I am also keen on understanding the role of global and regional climate change manifested in elevated temperatures and droughts that influence vine performance, grape yield, wine aroma and flavor components and consequently wine quality.

Prior to commencing my doctorate degree, I completed a Masters in viticulture in 2008, also at Cornell, during which time I looked into the characterization and management of variability in the vineyard, working primarily with two commercially important grape varieties in New York: Concord and Cabernet Franc.

Following the Masters degree, I received the Dreer Award for International Horticulture Research from Cornell's Department of Horticulture. As part of this award, I had the opportunity to travel to and study viticulture and climate change in China, India and Australia for a period of one year in 2008-2009. (View my Dreer Award presentation.)

In my current research, I am working on the development of a xylem-embedded microsensor that will have the ability to measure the water status of grapevines and other plants and trees in real-time. The grapevine is particularly sensitive to water stress, which is reflected in the vegetative performance of the vine as well as the quality of fruit and resulting wine. The measurement of water status in grapevines and other plants has hitherto been done indirectly using a pressure chamber ("pressure bomb") or by measuring soil moisture via a number of different techniques. The only direct method to date is a cell pressure probe developed by Ulrich Zimmermann in Würzburg, Germany.  This device measures the pressure potential of individual cells adjacent to xylem vessels thereby approximating the water status of the whole plant. However, these probes are tedious to use, inconvenient for field-studies to the large amount of equipment needed, and have a limited range of measurement. An embedded microsensor based on the tensiometer principle will allow growers and scientists to measure the water status of the vine or plant in real-time with an unprecedented range of (negative) pressure and accuracy. No such sensors for long-term, continuous and direct measurement of plant water status currently exist.

To develop a prototype for the microsensor, I am currently working in the lab of Dr. Abraham Stroock in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and also using the clean room of Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility for microfabrication of the sensor using conventional photolithography that is widely used to manufacture microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices.  More information about our project can be found in articles in the Cornell Chronicle, Science Daily and Wines and Vines.

I have been a teaching assistant in 'Viticulture and Vineyard Management' (HORT 4430) and 'Analytical Methods for Plant Systems' (HORT 6170).

Bryan Emmett
Ph.D. candidate

I came to the Department of Horticulture from a background in natural resource management.  From 2003 to 2008 I worked as Stewardship Manager for the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a regional not-for-profit land conservation organization.  In my graduate research, I am interested in exploring the hidden plant root, soil and microbial interactions that influence ecosystem structure and function.  Particularly, the plant root physiological and morphological traits that lead to beneficial or pathogenic interactions with the soil biota.  I am using apple rootstocks that are susceptible and tolerant to apple replant disease as a model system to investigate the root traits and mechanisms that confer tolerance of soil-borne pathogens.  Knowledge of these mechanisms can inform plant breeding efforts and cultural management of such pathogens.

Alex Paya
M.S./Ph.D. candidate

Competition between plants is an almost ubiquitous feature across both cultivated and natural landscapes.  Plants compete both above and belowground for limited space and resources; however, recent publications suggest that belowground competition (resource and non-resource competition) plays a more crucial role in determining plant growth success. Plant growth success is also effected by positive interactions, or facilitation, both above and belowground. The degree to which plants benefit from either positive interactions (facilitation) or negative interactions (competition) is often contingent on environmental conditions, and in the case of roots, on neighbor identity and soil resource conditions.

My PhD work on roots takes place in an experimental forest site outside of Munich, Germany. The Bauerle lab, in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has installed an elaborate configuration of minirhizotron tubes that span through a "two species gradient" (Picea abies & Fagus sylvatica), allowing us to test for inter- vs. intraspecific variation in belowground competitive strategies in an adult forest. The most important aspect of this project is drought, which will be induced using a removable rain-catchment scaffold that covers half of the plots. Minirhizotron is being coupled with TDR at regular intervals such that we may correlate shifts in root growth dynamics with changes in soil water content. Three other scientific teams will be joining us in this extensive forest drought experiment.

The other half of my research takes place at Cornell's main campus in Ithaca, NY.  Using X-ray computed tomography (CT scanning), we aim to image competing (intra/interspecific) root systems in three dimensions, and using a 3D snapshot, quantify fine root-root spatial interactions, root morphology, and growth trends over time. Picea abies (Norway spruce) and Fagus sylvatica (European beech) will be grown from seed both in mixture and monoculture to test for variation in inter- and intraspecific interactions belowground. Drought will be imposed on a sub-sample of competing trees to test for resource (mainly water) effects, as well as species effects on fine root dynamics. This novel high resolution technique will significantly increase the resolution of current procedures used to image/observe roots, and will dramatically improve our understanding of the fine-scale mechanisms responsible for competitive success.

Read more and view pictures on my profile page.

	Maria Smith M.S. candidate
	Stephen Huysman Undergraduate researcher
	Kathleen Garcia Undergraduate researcher