Drew Harner

My research broadly explores how vineyard environmental conditions, biotic stressors like insects and pathogens, and viticultural management practices interact to influence grapevine biology and fruit chemical composition. By integrating a range of field- and lab-based approaches, from whole-plant ecophysiological approaches to fruit and wine metabolomics, we hope to improve understanding of how fruit and grapevines respond to the variable conditions of the vineyard ecosystem. My current focuses include: evaluating novel grapevine cultivars perform under Virginia’s conditions; assessing novel viticultural methods for improving fruit and wine chemistry, from vine-based management practices to novel applied products; assessing how sap-feeding by the spotted lanternfly impacts grapevine carbon dynamics and water relations and fruit/wine chemistry; and understanding how grapevine nutritional needs vary by genotype and vineyard soil and climatic conditions.

More information about my program can be found on my lab website, at https://harnerlab.com

Up-to-date publications can be found at: Dr. Harner’s Google Scholar Profile

Harner, A.D., Smith, M.S., Keller, S.T., Hopfer, H., and Centinari, M. 2024. Identifying an early leaf removal threshold for Grüner Veltliner, a high-yielding, high-vigor cultivar. American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, 75. doi: https://doi.org/10.5344/ajev.2024.23021.

Harner, A.D., Leach, H.L., Briggs, L. and Centinari, M. 2022. Prolonged phloem-feeding by the Spotted lanternfly, an invasive planthopper, alters resource allocation and inhibits gas exchange in grapevines. Plant Direct, 6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.452.

Harner, A.D., Vanden Heuvel, J.E., Marini, R.P., Elias, R.J., and Centinari, M. 2019. Modeling the impacts of weather and cultural factors on rotundone concentration in cool-climate Noiret wine grapes. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01255.