Terence Robinson

I am an applied fruit crop physiologist. My goal is to do practical research and extension on tree fruit production problems that will increase the profitability and strength of the NY fruit industry and fruit growers around the world. My research and extension efforts are in these areas:

• Orchard Systems: My goal is to understand the fundamental principles of orchard system performance in both biological and economic terms. I do in-depth studies at Geneva and applied trials on grower's farms around the state in cooperation with extension field staff (Steve Hoying, Mike Fargione and Kevin Iungerman). Our field trials are evaluated from an economic perspective in cooperation with Gerald White, and Alison DeMarree.
• Rootstocks: My goal is to evaluate apple rootstocks for adaptability and performance under New York conditions. We are testing rootstocks from around the world including new Cornell-Geneva series of rootstock. This work is done in cooperation with Genarro Fazio of the USDA, Herb Aldwinckle of Plant Pathology and the national rootstock testing project- NC-140.
• Crop Load and Canopy Management: My goal is to develop improved thinning and canopy management practices that improve fruit size and fruit quality while managing orchard tree canopies at a variety of tree densities. This work is in cooperation with and Alan Lakso, Lailiang Cheng, Duane Greene of U. of Mass and Greg Lang of Michigan State University.
• Extension Leadership: I provide leadership to the fruit research and extension team at Cornell by serving on the advisory committees of all the tree fruit extension specialists. I lead the effort to provide high quality in-service training meetings for extension educators by combining our in-service meeting with Michigan and Ontario Canada. I serve as editor, of the NY Fruit Quarterly which is the primary research reporting magazine that provides the fruit industry with regular communication on the progress of research programs at Cornell.

Selected Journal Publications

• Yoon, T. M., Robinson, T. L., & Osborne, J. L. (2011). Blossom thinning of 'Redhaven' and 'Babygold 5' peaches with different chemicals. Acta Horticulturae. 903:833-839.
• Robinson, T. L., Lopez , S., & Iungerman, K. (2011). Chemical thinning and summer PGR's for consistent return cropping of ÔHoneycrispÕ apples. Acta Horticulturae. 884:635-642.
• Reginato, G. H., Robinson, T. L., & Yoon, T. M. (2011). Crop regulation and cytokinin sprays to improve 'Sweetheart' sweet cherry fruit size. Acta Horticulturae. 903:849-856.
• Lang, G., Valentino, T., Robinson, T. L., Freer, J., Larsen, H., & Pokharel, R. (2011). Differences in mineral nutrient concentration of dormant cherry spurs as affected by rootstock, scion, and orchard site. Acta Horticulturae. 903:963-971.
• Yoon, T. M., Robinson, T. L., & Reginato, G. H. (2011). Effects of temperature and light level on efficiency of chemical thinner on 'empire' apple trees. Acta Horticulturae. 903:1085-1093.
• Elkins, R. B., Castagnoli, S., Embree, C., Parra-Quezada, R., Robinson, T. L., Smith, T. J., & Ingels, C. A. (2011). Evaluation of potential rootstocks to improve pear tree precocity and productivity. Acta Horticulturae. 909:183-194.
• Robinson, T. L. (2011). High density pear production with Pyrus communis rootstocks. Acta Horticulturae. 909:259-269.
• Fazio, G., Aldwinckle, H. S., Robinson, T. L., & Wan, Y. (2011). Implementation of molecular marker technologies in the apple rootstock breeding program in Geneva - challenges and successes. Acta Horticulturae. 903:61-68.
• Autio, W., Robinson, T. L., Cowgill, T. L., Hampson, C., Kushad, M., Lang, G., Masabni, j., Miller, D. D., Parra-Quezada, R. A., Perry, R., & Rom, C. (2011). Performance of 'Gala' apple trees on Supporter 4 and different strains of B.9, M.9, and M.26 rootstocks as part of the 2002 NC-140 apple rootstock trial. Acta Horticulturae. 903:311-318.
• Robinson, T. L., Hoying, S. A., & Fazio, G. (2011). Performance of Geneva¨ rootstocks in on-farm trials in New York state. Acta Horticulturae. 903:249-255.

• Hall of Fame (2015) International Fruit Tree Association
• Outstanding Extension Educator (2014) American Society for Horticultural Science
• Service Gold Medal (2014) International Society for Horticultural Science
• Outstanding Horticulturist (2011) Brazilian Apple Growers Association