Dr. Alan Lakso is a Professor at Cornell University New York State Agricultural Experimental Station. Dr. Lakso has his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of California at Davis. His particular area of research is integrative plant and crop physiology, primarily on fruit crops. The team investigates the individual physiological bases of specific processes such as the regulation of sink activity in the grape berry, carbon partitioning as related to developmental stage and light microclimate, and fruit growth/abscission in the apple. His emphasizees how these individual processes are integrated in the whole plant and what can done to influence such processes to improve plant productivity, especially under field conditions. As indicated by our increasing use of dynamic simulation modeling, he feels that they will need more and more integrative physiology to be able to attack current needs to improve our management and culture as well as to attack increasingly complex problems such as global climate change and environmental compatibility through IPM and sustainable agriculture approaches. |