The Return of the Laboratory Report

In the January 2006 editorial, we noted the continuing popularity of the Laboratory Report, a feature of Pacific Horticulture for nearly thirty years. That enthusiasm never ebbed, even in the last two years when the report was absent from our pages. Readers regularly inquired about Dr Robert Raabe, and we’re pleased to report that Bob is doing well, continuing to garden and to staff the monthly Sick Plant Clinic at the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley. Unfortunately, declining vision has made it impossible for him to keep up with all the professional and academic journals that have provided the nuggets of information for his Lab Report, and Bob has decided to step down from his role as our resident plant pathologist.

Thanks to a recommendation from board member Bracey Tiede, and with encouraging support from Dr Raabe, we are thrilled to welcome Ann Northrup as our new plant pathologist for the Lab Report.

Ann spent her undergraduate years at the University of Michigan, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in microbiology. Her interest in plant pathology started there, but she took a five-year diversion to work in the field of medical diagnostics at Bio Rad Labs in Richmond, California, and another two years as a molecular biology research assistant at UC Irvine. Returning to plant pathology, she earned a master’s degree under Dr Raabe at UC Berkeley. She has worked primarily in disease diagnostics of ornamental plants, first with Soil and Plant Lab in Orange, California, and then with Nurserymen’s Exchange in Half Moon Bay. She currently consults privately in plant pathology and arboriculture and teaches horticulture classes at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills and Merritt College in Oakland. One of her professional pleasures is volunteering at the Sick Plant Clinic, alongside Dr Raabe. She is also an active volunteer in the UCCE Master Gardener program for Santa Clara County. In her spare time, she enjoys playing her flute in a woodwind quintet in Saratoga and with the Saratoga Community Band conducted by her husband. And of course…she gardens.

On behalf of the Pacific Horticulture community, we thank Bob for his years of service to our journal, and welcome Ann’s Laboratory Report to the pages of Pacific Horticulture.
RGT