Dr. Rebecca Grumet Receives MI Vegetable Council Master Farmer Associate Award
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EmailDr. Rebecca Grumet - Receives Michigan Vegetable Council Master Farmer Associate Award
Professor emeritus, Dr. Rebecca Grumet, has been given the Michigan Vegetable Council Master Farmer Associate Award. Please read the statement and video provided by the Michigan Vegetable Council below.
Rebecca Grumet - Michigan Vegetable Council 2023 Master Farmer Associate Award (vimeo.com)
THE MICHIGAN VEGETABLE COUNCIL, INC.
Dr. Rebecca Grumet - Receives Michigan Vegetable Council Master Farmer Associate Award
Dr. Rebecca Grumet recently retired as a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, at Michigan State University, specializing in reproductive development in Cucumis; regulation of sex-expression; disease resistance; biotechnology biosafety; & cucurbit genomics. Her appointment was 84% research and 16% teaching. Rebecca had been in this role since July 1987, and is now in the process of completing a long and successful career through a ‘working retirement’. Rebecca wore many hats during those years: CucCAP project director, Regular Faculty, Molecular Plant Sciences Program Faculty, Genetics & Genome Sciences Program, and Professor, BioMolecular Science Gateway. Rebecca gained experience and earned her degrees at: Postdoctoral Fellowship, Duke University, 1985-1987; Ph.D., Michigan State University, 1985; M.S., Michigan State University, 1980; and B.S., Cornell University, 1978.
The most recent research in the Grumet lab focused on fruit development and disease resistance in Cucumis (cucumber and melon) crops using a combination of molecular genetic, genomic and transgenic approaches. They were especially interested in early stages of fruit growth and factors influencing fruit size, shape, cuticle and surface properties and resistance to infection by the oomycete pathogen, Phytophthora capsici.
Another long-term area of interest of Rebecca’s was biotechnology biosafety. Activities in this area include research, teaching, and international development work, including participation in MSU, USDAID, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- based projects.
Michigan’s pickle industry relies heavily on the expertise and leadership of all the staff at Michigan State University involved in researching pickles. Mike Kenny remembers being a teenager and the work that Rebecca did on their pickle farm helped convince Mike to attend Michigan State University. Katie Hensley of Swanson Pickles said that her family has 3 different generations who have worked with Rebecca on pickle industry projects.
For everything that she has done for agriculture in Michigan, Rebecca is being honored as the Master Farmer Associate awardee for 2023 by the Michigan Vegetable Council.
More information, from Vegetable Growers News, can be found here: Michigan Vegetable Council honors Main Farms, Rebecca Grumet - Vegetable Growers News
