03/25/1993

Backman Named Director of Biological Control Institute

AUBURN, Ala. - Paul Backman, professor of plant pathology at Auburn University, has been named director of the Biological Control Institute (BCI), announced Paul Parks, vice president for research at Auburn University.

The BCI is an interdisciplinary, science-based organization that is exploring biologically-based controls for various pests. The Institute, which was inaugurated in 1992, consists of agronomists, molecular biologists, foresters, botanists, entomologists, microbiologists and plant pathologists who are working to find natural weapons and processes to control plant pests. Included in this arsenal of natural allies will be beneficial bacteria, fungi or insects that can help control insects, weeds and plant diseases.

"The objectives of the BCI fit well with the mission of Auburn University," said Joe Kloepper, outgoing BCI director and head of Auburn's Department of Plant Pathology. "The BCI aims to provide leadership in education, research and technology transfer and implementation of biological control."

During a recent kick-off meeting for the BCI, Parks noted that the idea for the BCI actually was planted more than 10 years ago.

"In the early to mid 1980s, Auburn made a major commitment to bring our plant sciences to a higher level of research activity and increase the quality of work we were doing in plant science," he said.

According to Parks, the BCI is the result of that commitment and involves scientists working through the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and in the Colleges of Agriculture and Sciences and Mathematics, and the School of Forestry.

"The BCI is a classic example of a team approach to problem solving in agriculture," noted Lowell Frobish, director of the Experiment Station. "By bringing together expertise from several schools and colleges, the BCI is ideally structured to solve a broad range of problems on many crops."

As director of the BCI, Backman will coordinate and guide the Institute's programs. Backman received his undergraduate degree and the Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of California, Davis. He joined the Auburn faculty in 1971 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1977, and became a full professor in 1983. Though he is internationally recognized as one of the world's foremost soybean and peanut pathologists, in recent years Backman's research has centered on biologically-based fungicides used to control a wide range of disease pathogens that attack many fruit, vegetable and agronomic crops.

"Auburn University has recognized that current pest control methods are under attack from numerous consumer groups and governmental agencies," said Backman. "In order for Alabama and the rest of the nation to be prepared for the loss of many of our chemical pesticides, we will have to develop alternative strategies.

"Auburn has a long history in the biological control of plant pests," he continued, "and the pressing need for this type of research has led them to create the BCI, both to foster its continued development and also to assure that Auburn will be competitive with any other research facility in the nation for both federal and industrial funding. This should assure that the interests of our state's agricultural and urban communities are well served when our pest control practices are required to change."

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
Contact Katie Jackson, 334-844-5886 or smithcl@auburn.edu

03/25/93