Spotlight on Alumni

Pat Phipps

Pat Phipps (M.S., PPWS, 1972), a PPWS professor of plant pathology, has contributed to minimizing pesticide inputs and reducing their negative impact on workers and the environment, while maximizing yields and profits for Virginia farmers. Phipps was instrumental in developing and implementing a Leaf Spot Advisory program that reduced the use of fungicides on peanut crops. He has collaborated with Elizabeth Grabau, department head and professor of PPWS, to develop transgenic peanuts containing a barley gene that provides disease resistance. He was the first to find soybean rust in Virginia through sentinel plot monitoring in 2006. Phipps was named to the inaugural Farm Press Publications Researchers Hall of Fame in 2006 and cited for developing plant disease forecasting models that have saved Virginia growers millions of dollars each year. He also is helping peanut growers rebound from drastic cuts in acreage due to rising production costs. Phipps is based at the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center.