New Head of Teagasc Tillage Research Centre
Issued 18thOctober 2001
Dr Jimmy Burke has been appointed Head of the Teagasc Tillage Research Centre at Oak Park, Carlow, succeeding Tom Thomas who has retired.
Dr Burke is one of Ireland's leading crop scientists and has an international reputation for research in all aspects of tillage crops.
A graduate in agriculture from UCD, he was awarded M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in 1977 and 1980 respectively. He spent his early career working as a scientist with the internationally renowned Professor R S Loomis in the University of California, Davis, before joining Oak Park Research Centre in 1982.
He has been Chief Crop Scientist with Teagasc and has co-ordinated the national sugar beet research programme. He has also led the major Teagasc research initiative on the causes of the leaf spotting disorder in barley and has developed novel control strategies ahead of other European research institutes.
Jimmy has also pioneered the development of new computer models for cereals and sugar beet, which pinpoint critical growth stages for the efficient timing of crop inputs.
He has developed extensive linkages with international research institutes and, last year, co-authored an international textbook on biotechnology, which is now used in the major universities in the US and elsewhere.
One of his major tasks will be to oversee the establishment of the new Oak Park laboratories, which are currently at an advanced planning stage, and to establish the expanded research programme on crop biotechnology.
He is an Adjunct Professor in Trinity College, Dublin and has been an invited speaker to the prestigious Gordon Research Conference on crop growth and development in the US.
Jimmy succeeds Tom Thomas who has retired following 40 years outstanding service to the tillage industry in Ireland.
