Daniel Cooley
Former Associate Director and ProfessorEmeritus of Plant Pathology, Fruit Pathology
Office Phone
(413) 577-3803
I am currently retired from active research and UMass Extension work, though I am continuing to do some teaching and administrative work post-retirement. I am no longer accepting graduate students.
My work focuses on the ecology of plant diseases and the impacts their management have on environmental and human health. It is focused on commercial fruit production in the northeastern US, but has national and international impact. The primary goal is to reduce fungicide use in apples and other crops by applying an understanding of ecology and modern technical tools. As part of this, I work on disease forecast models and web-based decision support systems for delivering information to growers. My extension work centers on promoting adoption of more environmentally and economically sustainable production methods such as IPM. I teach courses in plant disease management and the ecology of food, agriculture and disease., and am affiliated with the School of Earth and Sustainability, the Environmental Science program, and the Plant Biology program.
Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology
Education
A. B., cum laude, General Studies, Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, 1974.
M. S., Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 1978.
Ph. D., Plant Pathology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1986.
PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS
- Sustainable management of diseases of fruit crops
- Modeling and forecasting of diseases
- Cyber technology applied to plant disease management
PROFESSIONAL OUTREACH
Board Member, IPM Institute of North America. Advisor to Eco Apple Project and other eco-label projects. https://ipminstitute.org/projects/northeast-eco-apple/
Harriman, Inc. and D. R. Cooley. The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: Harvard, Massachusetts. May 2019, 41 pp. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RKduI2-B2xg03lYLAckXeu9hONVZzHMf/view?u...
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS SINCE 2014
- Piñero, J.C., Shapiro-Ilan, D., Cooley, D.R., Tuttle, A.F., Eaton, A., Drohan, P., Leahy, K., Zhang, A., Hancock, T., Wallingford, A.K. and Leskey, T.C., 2020. Toward the Integration of an Attract-and-Kill Approach with Entomopathogenic Nematodes to Control Multiple Life Stages of Plum Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Insects, 11(6), p.375. www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/6/375
- Zeng, Q., Z. Q. Cui, J. Wang, K. L. Childs, G. W. Sundin, D. R. Cooley, C. H. Yan, E. Garofalo, A. Eaton, R. B. Huntley, X. C. Yuan and N. P. Schultes. 2018. Comparative genomics of Spiraeoideae-infecting Erwinia amylovora strains provides novel insight to genetic diversity and identifies the genetic basis of a low-virulence strain. Molecular Plant Pathology, 19, 1652-1666. https://bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mpp.12647
- Morrison, W. R., D. H. Lee, W. H. Reissig, D. Combs, K. Leahy, A. Tuttle, D. Cooley and T. Leskey. 2016. Inclusion of specialist and generalist stimuli in attract-and-kill programs: their relative efficacy in apple maggot fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) pest management. Environ. Ent. 45 (4): 974-982. https://academic.oup.com/ee/article/45/4/974/2465578?login=true
- Villani, S.M., Biggs, A.R., Cooley, D.R., Raes, J.J, and Cox, K.D. 2015. Prevalence of myclobutanil resistance and difenoconazole insensitivity in populations of Venturia inaequalis. Plant Dis. 99: 1526-1536. https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/full/10.1094/PDIS-01-15-0002-RE
- Frederick, Z. A., Villani, S. M., Cooley, D. R., Biggs, A. R., Raes, J. J. and Cox, K. D. 2014. Prevalence and stability of qualitative QoI resistance in populations of Venturia inaequalis in the northeastern United States. Plant Dis. 98: 1122-1130. https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS-10-13-1042-RE
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL AND INDUSTRY MEETINGS SINCE 2015
- Cooley, D. R. 2018. Using mobile apps in Eco Apple. Eco Apple Annual Meeting. Henry Wallace Center, Hyde Park, NY. Feb. 28. Unpublished.
- Cooley, D. R. 2017. Fire blight: what you need to know. Maine State Pomological Soc. Lewiston, ME. March 22. Unpublished.
- Cooley, D. R. 2016. Issues in disease models and decision support for apples. SW Michigan Hort Mtg., Benton Harbor, MI. Feb. 4, 2016. Unpublished.
- Cooley, D. R. 2016. Tactics for apple scab management. SW Michigan Hort Mtg., Benton Harbor, MI. Feb. 4, 2016. Unpublished.
- Cooley, D.R. and J.M. Clements. 2015. Decision support systems evaluation in Massachusetts. Invited presentation. Midwest Weather Working Group, Aug. 5-7, Ventura, CA. Unpublished.
- Carroll, J., P. Oudemans, D. Cooley, J. Clements, D. Robinson, T. Bradshaw, R. Crassweller, M. Concklin, K. Peter, A. DeGaetano. 2015. Delivering site-specific applications to farmers in a knowledge network via cloud integration of weather mesonets and proven predictive models. Phytopathology 105(Suppl. 4):S4.24.
- Cooley, D. R. and J. Clements. 2015. Preliminary evaluation of four decision support systems for management of apple scab in the northeastern U.S. Phytopathology 105 (Suppl. 1):S1.6.
SELECTED EXTENSION PUBLICATIONS SINCE 2015
- Zeng, Q., D. Cooley and N. Schultes. 2019. Use of biological controls and sterilants as alternatives to streptomycin against fire blight blossom infections in apples. Fruit Notes 84:3, 1-6. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v84n3/a1.pdf
- Garofalo, E. W., J. Clements, and D. Cooley. 2019. RIMpro and Apple Scab in New England: Accuracy and Grower Adoption. New York Fruit Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4, p. 29-32. https://nyshs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Garofalo-Pages-from-NYFQ-BO...
- Clements, J., D. Cooley and L. Garofalo. 2017 UMass RIMpro Advisory Service. Fruit Notes 83 (Winter): 8-9. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v83n1/a3.pdf
- Garofalo, E.W., A.F. Tuttle, J.M. Clements and D.R. Cooley. 2016. Discrepancies between direct observation of apple scab ascospore maturation and disease model forecasts in the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. Fruit Notes 81 (2) 7-18. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v81n2/a2.pdf
- Moran, R., G. Koehler, D. Cooley, A. Tuttle, J. Clements, C. Smith, G. Hamilton, W. MacHardy, L. Berkett, T. Bradshaw, H. Faubert, and M. Conklin. 2016. The New England Apple Scab-Control Practices Survey. Fruit Notes 81 (1) 1-6. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v81n1/a1.pdf
- Cooley, D.R., J.M. Clements, E. Garofalo and A. Tuttle. 2015. Tracking fire blight: fighting disease with disease forecasting. Fruit Notes 80(4) 1-9. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v80n4/a1.pdf
- Cooley, D.R., W.R. Autio, J. Clements, W. Cowgill. 2015. An annual fire blight management program for apples – an update. Fruit Notes 80 (2) 18-26. http://umassfruitnotes.com/v80n2/a4.pdf
SMARTPHONE APPS
- Schnabel, G., coordinator. 2016-19. MyIPM. Android and iOS app for management of fruit diseases in the eastern US., Clemson Univ. Cooley, D. et al., Apple disease module. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pzSHRv-pss
- Cooley, D., J. Clements, A. Cavanaugh, S. Futrell and P. Werts. 2018-19. Eco Fruit / Eco Apple. Android and iOS app for management of apple diseases emphasizing selection of most ecologically acceptable pesticides. Developed in conjunction with Red Tomato, Inc. and the IPM Institute of North America.