The 30,000-acre Lake Erie Grape Region of New York and Pennsylvania runs along Lake Erie, from the shores of Lake Ontario to the north to the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.  It has a long history of Labrusca (Concord and Niagara) production for use in juice, jams and jellies and sweet wines.  The region is also home to an emerging wine grape industry with 16 established wineries participating in the Lake Erie Wine Trail. 
 
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program (LERGP) is a two-state cooperative extension program of both Cornell and Penn State Universities and is also supported by five county Cooperative Extension Associations.  The Regional Extension Educator (Viticulture Specialist) is part of a four member team currently housed at the Lake Erie Center for Grape Research and Extension in Fredonia, NY. In 2008 the program will move to a new $4.5 million research and extension facility in Portland, NY.  As part of the extension team, the Viticulture Specialist will provide commercial grape growers, processors and wineries with the research-based knowledge and resources necessary to improve production, management and marketing practices that will enhance profitability and sustain growth of the juice and wine industries of the Lake Erie Region in New York and Pennsylvania.
 
The successful applicant will provide leadership in planning, conducting, and evaluating a comprehensive education program, to include both independent and cooperative applied research and demonstration projects in diverse technical areas including the nutrition, water management, and mechanization.  The established Labrusca industry requires programming aimed at improving production while managing costs and the emerging wine and wine grape industry provides the opportunity to work with varietal and clonal selections appropriate for a premium Lake Erie wine industry as well as soils, site selection, training systems, harvest and handling.
 
For more details, see http://hosts.cce.cornell.edu/admin/careerops/EA_Vint_June07.htm
 
HOW TO APPLY:   Send letter of intent, resume, and transcripts to Area Fruit Extension Educator-Viticulture, Box 26, Kennedy Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.  Contact Connie Kan at ck236@cornell.edu for any questions.
 
APPLICATION DEADLINE: July 27, 2007 or until a suitable candidate is hired.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Cornell University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. Cornell University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of race, sex, national origin, disability, religion, age, or sexual orientation.