Nikki Rothwell
Faculty Coordinator at the Northwest Michigan Horticulture and Research Center | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Expert in the coordination of research-based technical and management information to the fruit industry
Biography
Nikki joined the staff of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center (NWMHRC) in September of 2004 as the District IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Agent for Fruit. She was named coordinator in 2010 and District Extension Horticulture Educator. This position holds a split appointment with Michigan Agricultural Research Station (45%) and Michigan State University Extension (55%). Responsibilities for the station coordinator include providing overall leadership for the operation of the NWMHRC, conducting independent and collaborative research with researchers to provide direction, research, and research coordination for the NWMHRC.
In the District Extension Horticultural Educator role, Nikki provides leadership and coordination in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating extension educational program and activities in order to maintain the flow of current research-based technical and management information to the fruit industry. She also helps to improve the skills of growers and agribusiness persons in application of research results to their particular production or marketing situation. Lastly, she works with the Northern Michigan fruit industry to provide horticultural leadership with extension directions and agricultural educators in the North and Upper Peninsula regions.
Industry Expertise (4)
Agriculture and Farming
Education/Learning
Research
Market Research
Areas of Expertise (2)
Horticultural Research
Fruit Industry
News (1)
How climate change might be threatening the future of apples
New York Daily News online
2021-07-14
Last spring, they put in a new crop of Honeycrisps, one of America's favorite apples, only to discover an unwelcome visitor just a few weeks later: a bacterial menace known as fire blight. It's not just cider apples that are at risk. Increasingly, all apples as well as other fruit crops such as pears are in danger from such climate-induced afflictions. Nikki Rothwell, a specialist with the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center at Michigan State University, said the climate crisis isn't just problematic in terms of fire blight, but also because it's allowing for more generations of insect pests each year. “If growers cannot mitigate risk in some way, fruit farming is not a sustainable model or business,” she said.