Terence Bates, a research associate in Cornell's Department of Horticultural Sciences at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., recently received the New York Wine and Grape Foundation Research Award for "major contributions in research and education."

The award was presented in March at the Annual Unity Banquet, which was held in conjunction with the New York Wine Industry Annual Workshop and New York Wine and Grape Foundation Annual Seminar in Geneva.

Bates' research interests and expertise are in general viticulture, grapevine mineral nutrition and root biology, and vineyard mechanization. At Cornell's Vineyard Laboratory in Fredonia, N.Y. (which will move next year to a new facility in Portland, N.Y., and be named the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory), Bates and his colleagues help the New York grape juice industry maximize the yield of high-quality fruit by working closely with producers and processors.

"Terry is recognized as a leading viticulture research scientist, both in New York and nationally," says Alan Taylor, chair of horticultural sciences at the experiment station in Geneva. "His research has significantly impacted the Lake Erie grape-growing region, resulting in increased profitability to growers."

New York is the largest grape-producing state in the eastern United States and a significant contributor to both the U.S. and world juice markets. Concord grapes, which are grown predominantly in the Lake Erie region, account for 75 percent of the New York harvest; 75 percent of the Concord harvest is processed for juice.