Dr. Ed Hellman
I am a native of Evanston, Illinois and stretched out my suburban Chicago roots to obtain degrees in horticulture from the University of Illinois and the University of Arkansas. I have statewide responsibilities in viticulture extension and research, and hold a joint appointment with Texas A&M and Texas Tech University. I make my home in Lubbock with my wife Pam, who is an academic advisor in the Department of Biology at Texas Tech, and our sons Will, a sophomore at Western Washington University, and Michael, a senior at Coronado High School.
The objectives of my PD research project are to characterize the present status of PD in Texas and to study PD at the broad landscape level to learn more about the disease, its hosts, and its vectors in relation to environmental factors in Texas. A statewide vineyard survey has been conducted with my Research Associate, Jacy Lewis, in collaboration with Jim Kamas and Penny Adams. A geographic information system is being constructed to combine the vineyard survey data with insect trapping data from Forrest Mitchell and Isabelle Lauziere, and data on Xylella fastidiosa strains and host plants from Mark Black and Lisa Morano.