Aug 10, 2016
Watkins delivers Morrison Memorial Lecture at ASHS Conference

watkins_usdaARS
Christopher Watkins. Photo: USDA ARS

Christopher B. Watkins, director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension, delivered the 2016 ARS B.Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture at the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) annual conference in Atlanta.

Watkins is also a professor of postharvest science in the horticulture section of the School of Integrative Plant Science and associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell.

Watkins has contributed to the success of fruit and floral industries around the world as a leader in postharvest science and outreach. His research about controlled atmosphere biology, edible quality of fruit management, and chilling injury prevention is used across varieties and cultivars, across species, and across production areas.

In particular, Watkins has remained at the forefront of addressing significant apple industry issues by applying new developments in postharvest technologies. His research about the artificial ripening regulator 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) is instrumental in the understanding of apple ethylene biology, both from a scientific standpoint and from industry’s applied perspective and practical need to control ripening.

Within the floral industry, 1-MCP is used to preserve the freshness of ornamental plants and flowers. Growers, packers and shippers use 1-MCP to maintain the quality of fruits and vegetables as diverse as kiwifruit, tomatoes, plums, persimmons, avocados and melons.

By implementing the postharvest practices developed by Watkins, the apple industry has greatly improved the quality of fruit delivered to consumers while reducing or eliminating the use of synthetic postharvest chemicals. His research with Honeycrisp apples identified a postharvest strategy that has largely eliminated postharvest chilling injury, which has allowed this variety to achieve a profitability unprecedented in the apple industry.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) established this memorial lectureship in 1968 to honor the memory of Benjamin Y. Morrison (1891-1966) and to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to horticulture and other environmental sciences, to encourage the use of these sciences, and to stress the urgency of preserving and enhancing natural beauty.

ARS is the USDA‘s chief in-house scientific research agency.




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