AgriLife Today
In recognition of his distinguished contributions to plant pathology, the Southern Division of the American Phytopathological Society has honored David Appel, Ph.D., with its Outstanding Plant Pathologist award.
Appel is a professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist with the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. He specializes in forest and shade tree pathology, wine grape diseases and plant disease control.
Among his many accomplishments, Appel diagnosed oak wilt as the cause of a highly destructive oak mortality epidemic in Texas. He developed an integrated management program for disease control that has become standard practice for natural resource management. Appel also leads efforts to survey and monitor sudden oak death. This pathogen has been detected in several Texas nurseries as well as in streams at two locations in the state.