David Combs

Research Support Specialist

Dave works at Dr. Katie Gold’s Lab in Geneva, NY. He is responsible for anything and everything related to the pathology vineyards, including the annual fungicide efficacy studies for grapevine powdery mildew, downy mildew, black rot, and botrytis bunch rot. He has vast field experience gained over his 27 years at Cornell managing applied field programs ranging from tree fruit insecticide trials to vineyard fungicide trials. He is responsible for all applications, scouting, data collection, analysis, and reports in the annual efficacy testing experiments. Dave is the jack-of-all-trades in the lab and pitches in where he is needed. This includes precise image annotation for training the autonomous robot, lab ordering and inventory, greenhouse duties and field equipment maintenance and operation. Dave has a robust background in viticulture and previously taught Integrated Pest Management at Finger Lakes Community College.