Elvin Charles StakmanBorn 17 May 1885; died 22 Jan 1979 at age 93. American plant pathologist. As an agricultural specialist, Stakman pioneered methods to identify and combat diseases of important crops. In 1921, he attached Vaseline-coated slides to plane wings to collect evidence of parasitic red spores of crop fungal rusts in the air, and proved that the disease seasonally blew across the nation. After investigating the nature and control of fungal leaf rust in cereals at the University of Minnesota, Stakman's interest expanded to international scientific affairs. He pleaded for a joint U.S.-Mexico station to research crop improvement. Established in 1943, this was the first of a worldwide network of research stations under the International Center for Corn and Wheat Improvement, an organization to increase food production in developing nations. He wrote many scientific papers, and co-authored Campaign Against Hunger (1967).« |
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