Walter R. Stevenson

Ph.D.: University of Wisconsin-Madison in Plant Pathology

Research Program

My program focuses on the development and implementation of tools and strategies for the improved management of diseases affecting vegetable crops. Program goals include 1) reducing pesticide inputs, 2) improving food quality, 3) improving environmental safety as this relates to crop production, 4) increasing knowledge related to disease management and issues concerning pathogen etiology and crop health and 5) improving the economics of crop production. Current research programs include: 1) Chemical control of vegetable crop diseases (early and late blights on potato, seedpiece decay on potato, white mold on snap bean, Alternaria and Cercospora leaf blights on carrot, Phytophthora blight on cucumber) 2) Evaluation of cultivars and breeding selections to identify field resistance to important pathogens (potato early and late blight, foliar diseases of carrot), 3) Environmental and cultural factors that affect the decay of potato seedpieces, 4) Seed transmission of P. infestans, 5) Managing potato late blight with a multifaceted IPM program and 6) The movement and survival of P. infestans sporangia and zoospores in soil. My extension/research activities represent a continuum from problem recognition, conceptualization of research approaches, research planning, data collection, interpretation, formulation of recommendations, training and clientele implementation of new techniques, methods, strategies for disease management. In a typical year I participate in 40-60 vegetable grower meetings, agent training sessions, field days, master gardener meetings and workshops each year reaching approximately 2,000-3,500 clientele.

UW Vegetable Pathology web site

Selected Publications

Haynes, K. G., D. H. Lambert, B. J. Christ, D. P. Weingartner, D. S. Douches, J. E. Backlund, G. Secor, W. Fry and W. Stevenson. 1998. Phenotypic stability of resistance to late blight in potato clones evaluated at eight sites in the United States. Am. Potato J. 75:211-217.

Helgeson, J. P., J. D. Pohlman, S. Austin, G. T. Haberlach, S. M. Wielgus, D. Ronis, L. Zambolim, P. Tooley, J. M. Mcgrath, R. V. James, and W. R. Stevenson. 1998. Somatic hybrids between Solanum bulbocastanum and potato; A new source of resistance to late blight. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 96: 738-742.

Marshall, K. D., Mcgrath, M., James, R. V., and Stevenson, W. R. 1998. Characterization of Phytophthora infestans in Wisconsin from 1993 to 1995. Plant Dis. 82:434-436.

Panique, E., K. A. Kelling, E. E. Schulte, D. E. Hero, W. R. Stevenson and R. V. James. 1997. Potassium rate and source effects on potato yield, quality and disease interaction. American Potato Journal 74: 379-398.

Stevenson, W. R. 1994. The potential impact of field resistance to early blight on fungicide inputs. American Potato Journal 71: 317-324.

Stevenson, W. R., D. Curwen, K. A. Kelling, J. A. Wyman, L. K. Binning and T. R. Connell. 1994. Wisconsin's IPM program for potato: The developmental process. Hort Technology 4: 90-95.

Stevenson, W.R., J. A. Wyman, K. A. Kelling, L. K. Binning, D. Curwen, T. R. Connell, and D. J. Heider. 1995. Prescriptive Crop and Pest Management Software for Farming Systems Involving Potatoes. In: "Ecology and Modeling of Potato Crops under Conditions Limiting Growth", ed by A. J Haverkort and D. K. L. MacKerron. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands. pp. 291-303.

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