Jason Grabosky Elected to Serve on the Board of Directors For The International Society of Arboriculture

Jason Grabosky, a professor in the Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources program, and an extension specialist for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, has been elected by the general membership to serve on the Board of Directors for The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) which serves the tree care industry.

Grabosky serves as the John and Eleanor Kuser Endowed Faculty Scholar in Urban and Community Forestry which has natural parallels to the ISA mission statement: “Through research, technology, and education, the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) promotes the professional practice of arboriculture and fosters a greater worldwide awareness of the benefits of trees.”

His research interests include: urban tree management in the development and maintenance of urban landscapes, managing stormwater for urban sustainability using trees and structural soils, and root-pavement conflicts.

“Having been associated with this organization for many years, it is an opportunity to serve the tree care community while learning where folks need advancement in understanding and in techniques within a rapidly changing natural environment and similarly rapid changing technological environment,” said Grabosky. “Serving on the board will undoubtedly influence our program’s research within the applied aspects of the program, and it will inform my understanding of the industry to improve our extension outreach programs.”

With more than 22,000 members and 31,000 credentialed tree care professionals, the ISA has 59 component chapters throughout North America, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and South America, as well as several associate organizations such as the Society of Municipal Arborists, the Utility Arborist Association and the Arboricultural Research and Educational Academy.

The ISA also maintains a research journal, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, a trade journal, Arborist News, and a portfolio of educational and training publications.

Lone Star Ticks Infected with Bourbon Virus in New Jersey

A recent report in the Journal of Medical Entomology has important public health implications for New Jersey, which only recently joined a select number of states to discover an emerging virus in populations of the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum L.). The report was co-authored by Dana Price and Nicole Wagner from the Dept. of Entomology, and Andrea Egizi and Robert Jordan from the Monmouth County Tick-borne Disease Program.

Bourbon virus (BRBV) is a human pathogen that was first isolated from a symptomatic individual in Bourbon County, Kansas, who subsequently died of the illness. Since that time, human cases have been confirmed in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

The virus is likely to be transmitted to humans via the bite of the lone star tick and was very recently detected in a survey of these ticks in New York state. To assess the potential presence and abundance of BRBV in New Jersey lone star ticks, researchers from the Rutgers University Center for Vector Biology and Monmouth County Tick-borne Disease Program screened over 1,200 specimens and detected BRBV in three individual ticks, while also generating a complete genome sequence of the virus from a single infected tick.

Lone star ticks will readily feed on deer, and researchers in New York state found that greater than 60% of deer from many Long Island sites had been exposed to the virus. Exactly how so many deer were exposed, and whether ticks were ultimately responsible for transmission remains an unanswered question. We don’t yet have such data for New Jersey, but it will be an important aspect in determining what influences local Bourbon virus cycles.

It is important to note that only five human cases of BRBV have been confirmed in the U.S., and a very small fraction of ticks have tested positive in both New York and New Jersey. The likelihood of encountering an infected tick thus appears to remain exceedingly low. However, this virus is only one of several tick-borne pathogens that are increasing their known range and/or abundance throughout the Northeastern United States.

Residents are always encouraged to follow CDC guidelines for reducing tick bites during and after outdoor activities. New Jersey residents exposed to ticks can submit them to our citizen science project, NJ Ticks 4 Science at https://ticks.rutgers.edu/ and contribute to our understanding of humantick exposures.

Karyn Malinowski Honored with Distinguished Service Award from Equine Science Society

Karyn Malinowski, founding director of the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University, received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award at the 2023 Equine Science Society Symposium in Grapevine, Texas, on Friday, June 9. Presented to her during the Equine Science Society Symposium’s 2023 Awards Banquet, the award is the most prestigious honor that the Equine Science Society can bestow upon one of its members.

The Distinguished Service Award in Equine Science recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of equine science. Award recipients must also have a record of significant accomplishments in teaching, research and extension or service as it relates to the advancement of the equine sciences and horse industry.

“Dr. Malinowski’s passion and dedication to the field of Equine Science, her passion for improving the care of the equine athlete, and her dedication to ensuring the viability of the New Jersey horse industry exemplifies the qualities of those receiving this award,” said Kenneth McKeever, associate Director of Research at the Rutgers Equine Science Center. “Her career is a model of excellence in all three parts of the land-grant mission: research, teaching, and outreach/service.”

Malinowski has served as a faculty member at Rutgers since 1978 in various roles, including Extension Specialist in Equine Sciences, Animal Sciences Professor, Founding Director of the Equine Science Center, and the Director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

Her research and extension programs concentrate on improving the equine athlete’s well-being and quality of life while ensuring the equine industry’s vitality and viability, both statewide and nationally.

After having the opportunity to drive the famous Niatross, American champion standardbred race horse that many believe was the greatest harness horse of all time, Malinowski was bitten by the bug and spent several summers learning how to drive harness horses. In 2001, she acquired her first Standardbred racehorse, Could Be Magic, who carried her to victory in her amateur debut in 2003 at Freehold Raceway.

“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award from the Equine Science Society,” said Malinowski. “It has been my extreme pleasure to have worked for over four decades with top-notch young people and horses!”

How many weeks from late spring to early summer did it really rain in any measurable amount? Was it six, eight, ten weeks? Wow!

As I write this article, a big turnaround has occurred. Looking at my phone weather app, it shows ten days straight of no sunshine and some sort of rain, and it is raining now after last night’s thunderstorm. Mother Nature, what are you doing to us? I’ve never seen anything quite like these long unexplained rainy weather patterns. At least the rain took away a lot of the forest fire threats, and it finally stopped the awful wildfire smoke in the eastern part of the country. I don’t think we have to call Noah’s ark yet.

The relative amount of water on earth doesn’t really change, only when it rains in certain areas. I think the amount of rainfall in a region is similar on an annual basis. Usually when it rains a lot or a longterm drought is experienced, the rainfall balances itself out during the year ahead. What does the Farmer’s Almanac say? The good news is the recent rain in mid-summer

Annuals were traditionally considered as ‘Bedding Plants’ since they were planted in a garden ‘Bed’ where they rapidly covered the ground with low and dense floral displays. How they are used in the garden has changed, with many no longer used to simply carpet the ‘Bed’ of a garden. Verbena bonariensis, commonly known as Tall Verbena or Purpletop, is certainly not new to the gardening world, yet it is now providing new design opportunities for annual displays!

Verbena bonariensis is a member of the Verbena Family or Verbenaceae and is native from Columbia and Brazil, south to Argentina, where it inhabits dry and sunny locations. The genus name was initially penned in 1753 by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). The name comes from the ancient Roman term of Verbēna, which referred to stems and leaves of herbs with ‘supernatural powers’ used in religious rituals such as Olive and Myrtle. Linnaeus also crafted the species epithet honoring Buenos Aires Argentina, the city from which a dried specimen was first sent to England in 1723!

Both Tall Verbena and Purple Top are appropriate common