DAVID R. HOUSTON was, until his recent retirement, Principal Plant Pathologist at the USDA Forest Serviceís Northeastern Forest Experiment Stationís Center for Forest Health Research in Hamden, Connecticut. There, he also served as Project Leader from 1964 to 1989. He has degrees from the University of Massachusetts (B.S. in Forestry), Yale University (M.F. in forest pathology) and the University of Wisconsin (Ph.D. in Plant Pathology). He is an expert on the complex stress-triggered tree diseases known as diebacks and declines, and his research has covered the etiology, ecology, epidemiology and silvicultural management of these diseases, especially in sugar maple, oak and beech. He is the leading international authority on the beech-scale-Nectria complex known as beech bark disease. He has held numerous positions with scientific and professional organizations, including the Forest Science Board of the Society of American Foresters, and the American Phytopathological Society. He has also served as Chairman of the Northeastern Forest Pest Council. David holds numerous honors and awards, including USDA Certificates of Merit. He has lectured at many universities, and before he retired routinely participated in seminars and classes at Yale, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire and others. He is the author of over 100 publications, and has been active internationally in the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO).

Selected Publications:

Houston D.R. 1993. Sapstreak disease of sugar maple: development over time and space. Res Pap. NE-687. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 19 p.

Houston, D.R. 1994. Major new tree disease epidemics: beech bark disease. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 32:75-87.

Houston, D.R. 1994. Temporal and spatial shift within the Nectria pathogen complex associated with beech bark disease of Fagus grandifolia. Can. J. For. Res. 24:960-968.

Houston, D.B. and D.R. Houston. 1994. Variation in American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.): Isozyme analysis of genetic structure in selected stands. Silvae Genetica 43(5/6):277-284.