ALBANY, N.Y. -- Three faculty members from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. will appear before the New York State Assembly Republican Task Force on Integrative Medicine and Agriculture on Monday, Feb. 10. They will discuss the feasibility of using upstate farmland and forests for growing medicinal herbs and of establishing standards for quality control.

Eloy Rodriguez, the James A. Perkins Professor of Plant Biology, Kenneth Mudge, associate professor of horticulture, and Louise Buck, senior extension associate in natural resources, will speak to the Assembly group between 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Hearing Room C, Legislative Office Building. Assemblyman Pat Manning (R-99th Dist.) chairs the task force.

The scientists will suggest that the legislature assemble a group to assess the state's potential share of existing and future domestic and international markets for medicinal herbs.

Rodriguez studies the chemistry of biomedicinal plants, fungi and arthropods in the Caribbean, the Amazon region and East Africa for their possible pharmaceutical properties. Mudge and Buck have worked together as part of Cornell Agriforestry Working Group to evaluate and stimulate American ginseng and goldenseal production in New York forests and woodlots.