CCE Names Dresser Viticulture Extension Specialist
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County’s Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is pleased to announce the addition of Jackie Dresser as the Viticulture Extension Specialist. Jackie is the newest member of a four-person extension team, which assists area grape growers with the implementation of research-based information.
Dresser started on the research side of LERGP and brings her experience with spatial data analytics, GIS mapping and coordination of viticultural trials involving proximal sensing and variable rate management from her time spent as a research technician on the “Efficient Vineyard” project headed up by Dr. Terry Bates.
Dresser was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region and apprenticed with a Land Surveying firm in Ithaca from 2006-12. She passed the first phase of state Professional Land Surveying Licensure exams after earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Land Surveying Engineering Technology from Alfred State College.
Working on surveying projects with Finger Lakes vineyard owners led to an opportunity to join the Finger Lakes wine industry, where she was involved in production and sales (both retail and wholesale). She also developed a vineyard-mapping program using proximal sensing to integrate Precision Viticulture technology into vineyard management.
Dresser is delighted to be joining the LERGP extension team, and is looking forward to learning all she can about the Lake Erie juice and wine grape industry. Jackie sees crop estimation, at the vineyard level for growers and belt wide for processors, as a critical industry need that can provide the information necessary to make critical management decisions during the growing season.
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is a cooperative effort between Cornell and Penn State Universities; the participating Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus counties in New York and Erie County in Pennsylvania.