Dr. Gary Grove, Washington State University plant pathologist, will receive the American Phytopathological Society’s Excellence in Extension Award during the society’s annual meeting in August.

The award recognizes an APS member who has made outstanding contributions or provided significant leadership in the area of Extension. Grove has statewide Extension responsibilities for grapes, hops, and stone fruits. He was among the first to employ electronic bulletin boards to facilitate communication among growers, researchers, and extension collaborators, and created the first fruit pathology Web site. As communications technology developed, he produced videos that could be downloaded to hand-held devices.

In his three years as director of AgWeatherNet, he has led a massive hardware upgrade and expanded the network to 133 weather stations. It provides near real-time weather data and pest models and diseases forecasts through a Web site. Grove is a leader in the area of epidemiology of powdery mildews and other fruit diseases.