New VT Viticulturist and Spotted lanternfly Webinar

[Drew Harner]

Hello!

While I've had the fortune to meet some of you since I began my position with Virginia Tech, there are many I have yet to meet and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Drew Harner, and I'm the new viticulturist at VT, based at the AHS Jr. AREC in Winchester. I'm eager to begin meeting more members of the industry here in Virginia, and spend some time traveling and seeing vineyards throughout the state.

I came to VT in January from Penn State University, where I had completed my PhD in viticulture under Dr. Michela Centinari. As a research viticulturist and member of cooperative extension, my goal is to develop a research program and supporting extension programming that can address the needs and concerns of the industry, and help you produce high-quality grapes and wines. 

I plan on using this listserv to send out notices about upcoming events, workshops, and webinars, in addition to regular updates about the growing season and other observations. My email is dha...@vt.edu, and please feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, or comments (about grapes, wines, the listserv, anything!) at any time. 

To kick things off, please find attached a flier for the Eastern Viticulture & Enology Forum, a series of free lunch-time talks focusing on grape and wine-related themes and given by grape and wine researchers from Cornell University, Penn State University, and other universities. Tomorrow's talk will provide an informative overview of all things Spotted lanternfly from the viticulture and entomology team at Penn State. It runs from 12:00-1:30, and you can register for the talk here: https://extension.psu.edu/review-of-spotted-lanternfly-updates-and-findings-in-vineyards.

In the meantime, I hope to see some of you at the VVA Winter Technical Meeting on February 21-22 in Charlottesville. Registration is still open until 2/15 (link here: https://virginiavineyardsassociation.org/winter-technical-meeting-registration/#id=140&cid=1041&wid=3301) and there's a great program lined up. 

Looking forward to meeting more of you soon. 

Drew Harner

Assistant Professor of Viticulture

dha...@vt.edu