By Blake Jackson
Strong collaboration with industry stakeholders is essential for setting grape breeding priorities, evaluating new grapevine selections, and understanding the future needs of the wine industry.
At Cornell AgriTech, Dr. Maddy Oravec, Assistant Professor of Grape Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics, leads the Cornell Grape Breeding Program, which regularly engages growers, winemakers, consumers, and researchers through wine evaluations, annual field days, and discussion-based focus groups. These activities help strengthen partnerships while supporting the development of improved grape varieties.
The program also has an extension mission focused on providing educational resources about disease-resistant grapes and the performance of new varieties.
Recognizing a shortage of updated and accessible online educational materials, Aliyah Brewer, a PhD candidate in Plant Breeding and Genetics under Dr. Oravec’s guidance, created the Disease Resistant Grape Breeding website through a Spring 2026 Extension and Outreach Assistantship at Cornell AgriTech.
The assistantship program allows graduate students to propose extension projects, receive funding, and gain valuable experience in outreach, project management, and public engagement while contributing to Cornell AgriTech’s mission.
During the project, Brewer identified that the northeastern wine industry serves several distinct stakeholder groups, each with different responsibilities and educational needs. Existing extension resources often lacked information tailored to these audiences. To address this gap, she designed the website with dedicated content for wine consumers, viticulturists, winemakers, and grape breeders.
- Consumers can learn how disease-resistant grape varieties support sustainability and how their purchasing decisions can benefit the wine industry.
- Viticulturists can explore disease resistance, understand resistance genes, and discover how new grape selections are evaluated for vineyard performance.
- Winemakers can access information about research wine evaluations, compare emerging varieties with traditional grapes, and explore innovative winemaking techniques.
- Grape breeders can review the program’s breeding goals, disease-resistance strategies, and stakeholder-driven approach to developing new varieties.
By creating the Disease Resistant Grape Breeding website, Brewer expanded her extension and outreach expertise while delivering practical educational resources that strengthen Cornell AgriTech’s commitment to supporting agricultural stakeholders and advancing sustainable grape breeding.
Photo Credit: istock-jhvephoto
Categories: New York, Crops, Fruits and Vegetables, Education