Current Project (2024-2028) Team
Project Director
Michelle M. Moyer
Research, Extension, and Teaching Interests
Dr. Moyer’s Extension (70%) and Research (30%) interests cover all aspects of wine and juice grape production in Washington state and beyond. She has a particular focus on integrated pest and disease management, combining cultural and chemical practices to optimize control efforts.
Preferred program URLs
Social Media Accounts
- Facebook: @WSU.Vit.Enol.Ext
- X: @WSU_Vit_Ext
Project Co-Director
Walter (Walt) Mahaffee
Research, Extension, and Teaching Interests
Research focuses on understanding pathogen biology and disease epidemiology to develop integrated pest management programs and decision support systems. Current research projects are on inoculum monitoring, fungicide resistance, pathogen dispersion, and biophysical crop systems modeling.
Preferred program URLs
Project Co-Investigators
Monica L. Cooper
Research, Extension, and Teaching Interests
Dr. Cooper’s research interests include viticulture, pest management, and vineyard team dynamics. She has an active outreach program with the goal of extending science-based technical information to the vineyard industry.
Preferred program URL
Kaitlin M. Gold
Research, Extension, and Teaching Interests
The fundamental and applied science of plant disease sensing to improve early disease detection and sustainable integrated management in grapevine. Plant-pathogen interactions at scale with a range of technological approaches, but with specialization in imaging spectroscopy (also known as “hyperspectral imaging”) deployed across scales, from laboratory platforms to autonomous field robots to satellites.
Preferred program URLs
Social Media Accounts
Timothy D. Miles
Research, Extension, Teaching Interests
Interested in a variety of plant pathology research topics (e.g. mycology, genomics, population genetics, pathogen detection, molecular diagnostics and host resistance) that can be applied to solving disease management issues in grapes.
Preferred program URL
Social Media Accounts
- Facebook: @SmallFruitNHopPathology
- X: @Tmiles_MSU
Rob Stoll
Research, Extension, and Teaching Interests
Transport of momentum, mass, and energy in the environment and the impact of transport processes on ecosystem functioning in urban, agricultural and natural environments. I examine these processes and their impacts through numerical and physical (lab and field) experiments.
Preferred program URL
Key Personnel and Support Staff
Washington State University
- Rebecca Schmidt, Project Manager
- Maria Mireles – Research Technician (WSU)
USDA-ARS
- Tara Neill, Lab Manager
- Kate Baldino, Technician
University of Utah
- Eric Pardyjak, Professor
- Fabien Margairaz, Research Scientist
University of California
- Malcolm Hobbs, Staff Research Associate
- Sarah MacDonald, Research Data Analyst
Postdoctoral Scholars and Graduate Students
USDA-ARS
- Lucas Ulmer, Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Michigan State University
- Lexi Heger, PhD Candidate
- Samantha Thompson, Graduate Student
Cornell University
- Manushi Trivaedi, Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Stakeholder Advisory Group
Name, Company / Organization, and Representative Region
- Donnell Brown, National Grape Research Alliance, National
- Kenny Seebold, Valent USA, National
- Allison Jordan, CA Sustainable Wine Alliance, CA
- Dr. Maha Afifi, CA Table Grape Commission, CA
- Dr. Stephanie Bolton, Lodi Winegrape Commission, CA
- Bryan Rahn, Costal Viticultural Consultants, Western USA
- Dr. Julie Tarara, WA State Wine Commission, WA
- Ben Smith, Hinkelman Farms / MI Horticulture Society, MI
- Dr. Phil Brannen, University of Georgia, GA
- Brad Sorensen, Les Collines Vineyard, WA
FRAME (2018-2023) Alumni
Co-PIs and Collaborators
In addition to the below, Michelle Moyer, Walt Mahaffee, Timothy Miles, Monica Cooper and Rob Stoll were also members of the FRAME 1 project group.
- Ana Espinola-Arredondo, Professor of Economics, Washington State University
- Rachel Naegele, Research Horticulturist, USDA-ARS
- Phil Brannen, Professor of Plant Pathology and Extension Fruit Disease Specialist, University of Georgia
- Melanie Lewis Ivey, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Extension Fruit Pathologist, The Ohio State University
- Ioannis Stergiopulos, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology, University of California – Davis
Key Personnel, Postdocs, and Technicians
- Charlotte Oliver, Project Manager (WSU)
- Safa Alzohairy, Postdoctoral Research Associate (MSU)
- Marivi Colle, , Postdoctoral Research Associate (MSU)
- Jeff Delong, USDA Research Technician
- Maria Mireles – Research Technician (WSU)
- Tara Neill, USDA Biological Technician
- Eric Pardyjak, Professor (UofU)
- Hui-Ching Yang, Postdoctoral Research Associate (USDA)
Former Graduate Students
A list of the graduate students who worked on FRAME during the first project period (2018-2024).
Washington State University
Oregon State University
- Sarah Lowder, PhD. Plant Pathology
- Alexander Wong, PhD. Plant Pathology
- Theo Newbold, MSc. Plant Pathology
Michigan State University
- Lexi Heger, PhD. Plant Pathology
- Sam Thompson, PhD. Plant Pathology
- Nancy Sharma, PhD. Plant Pathology
University of California – Davis
University of Georgia
FRAME (2018-2023) Stakeholder Advisors
Name, Title, Company, Commodity, and Region
- Dr. Franka Gabler, Viticulture Research Director, CA Table Grape Commission, Table grapes, Fresno, CA
- Lauren Coelho, Solo Mio Farms, Raisin grapes, Leemore, CA
- Melissa Hansen Director of Research, WA State Wine Commission, Wine grapes, WA
- Dr. Julie Tarara, Viticulturist, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Wine grapes Horse Heaven Hills, WA
- Jason Tosh, Vineyard Mgr, Stoller Family Estate, Wine grapes Willamette Valley, OR
- Katey Taylor, Vineyard Mgr, Constellation Brands, Wine grapes, Napa Valley, CA
- Bryan Rahn, President, Coastal Viticultural Consultants, LLC, Wine grapes, Napa Valley, CA
- Dr. Anna-Liisa Fabritius, Owner, AL&L Crop Solutions Inc., Diagnostics, Vacaville, CA
- Mark Gibbs, Oregon Vineyard Supply, Crop protection, McMinnville, OR
- Ben Smith, Co-Manager, Hinkelman Farms; Michigan St. Hort Society, Wine grapes, Benton Harbor, MI
- Eric Seifarth, Crane Creek Vineyards, Wine grapes, Young Harris, GA
- Dr. David Gadoury, Sr. Research Associate, Cornell University, VitisGen2 / Disease Mgt, New York / Northeast
- Dr. Lance Cadle-Davidson, Research Plant Pathologist, USDA-ARS, VitisGen2 / Genetics, National