2003 GIE BOARD SEATED

The Green Industry Expo Board announced its 2003 slate of officers and directors. The nine-member Board includes three representatives from each of GIE's sponsor associations — Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), and Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS). Board members serve a three-year term.

Serving for the 2003 term are:

Officers

President Ken Taylor (PGMS), Husqvarna Forest & Garden Company, Charlotte, N.C.; Vice President Tom Davis (ALCA), Bozzuto Landscaping, Laurel, Md.; Secretary/Treasurer Gerald Grossi (PLCAA), Arborlawn, Lansing, Mich.

Directors

Roger Braswell (ALCA), PowerHouse Equipment Inc., Fort Mill, S.C.; Jon Cundiff (PLCAA), Weed Man, Inc., Lee's Summit, Mo.; Mike Dietrich (PLCAA), LESCO, Inc., Bay Village, Ohio; Steve Glover (ALCA), Symbiot Business Group, Salt Lake City, Utah; Kevin O'Donnell (PGMS), Villanova University, Villanova, Penn.; George Van Haasteren (PGMS), Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, N.J.

The 2003 Green Industry Expo is slated for Nov. 5-8 at the Cervantes Convention Center at America's Center, St. Louis, Mo.

HRI GRANTS $200,000 TO INDUSTRY RESEARCH PROJECTS

The Horticultural Research Institute's (HRI) executive committee granted $200,000 to 17 high-priority projects and two scholarships. During the committee's annual grants funding retreat, the committee considered nearly 160 applications for funding and determined these projects best meet the needs of the industry and have quality scientific merit that will result in new knowledge and techniques to deal with major industry issues.

In addition to directly underwriting research through its endowment fund, HRI is actively partnering with other associations, notably the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Drs. Judy St. John, ARS associate deputy administrator, and Peter K. Bretting, national program staff, attended the executive committee's grant deliberations. Through these partnerships, HRI has played a direct or advisory role in investing more than $2.5 million in industry research. These partnerships represent an extraordinary advancement of HRI's mission to be a clearinghouse for nursery and landscape research.

The following are some of the pest management projects funded by HRI's 2003 grants and their percentage of HRI Grant Funding dollars. Other projects included those involving weed control and environmental stress management.

• Altered Cultural Practices

  Evaluation of Asiatic Oaks, Elms, Poplars, and Maples for Feeding Preference and Suitability by the Japanese Beetle and Gypsy Moth, Dr. Fredric D. Miller, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Ill. $4,000

• Biological Control

  A New Highly White Grub-pathogenic Nematode: Evaluation of Field Efficacy, Dr. Albrecht M. Koppenhofer, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J. $16,000

  Developing Sterile Forms of Potentially Invasive Nursery Crops, Dr. Thomas G. Ranney, North Carolina State University, Fletcher, N.C. $12,500

• Integrated Pest Management

  Can Lower Doses of Herbicides, Applied More Frequently, Prevent Weed Break-through in Container Nursery Crops, Dr. Joseph C. Neal, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. $2,000

Disruption of Oriental Beetle Mating by Pheromones in Commercial Nurseries, Dr. James Lashomb, Blake Hall Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. $14,000

Plant Pathogen Management in Recycling Irrigation Systems (Final year), Dr. Sharon L. von Broembsen, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla. $13,000