Dr. Robert L. Wample, Advisor
Dr. Robert L. Wample, is the Julio Gallo Director of the Viticulture and Enology Research Center and Chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at California State University, Fresno. Prior to joining Fresno State, he held a viticulture research position at Washington State University's Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, WA and was named the Chateau Ste Michelle Distinguished Professor of Viticulture.
While at Fresno State, the Washington State Grape Society honored Dr. Wample with the Walter J. Clore Award in 2004, which is the first time the award was presented to someone outside the state of Washington.
In 2005, Dr. Wample was recognized for his many outstanding accomplishments by Fresno State's College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology. Dr. Wample also served as the 2005-2006 President of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture Board of Directors.
His areas of research include the effects of mechanical pruning, irrigation management and drought on wine and juice grape growth, productivity and physiology including the effects of nutrition, harvest date, pruning level and disease on cold hardiness of wine and juice grapes. He has also examined the use of hot water treatment to control of crown gall; the physiology of heat-shock protein formation; and recently, the application of "precision farming" techniques to viticulture.