1291 CUMBERLAND AVE
W LAFAYETTE IN 47906-1385 USA
telephone:
765-497-1313 voice
765-463-7004 FAX
E-mail: alkire@benzalco.com
Home address:
1621 Columbia Street
Lafayette,Indiana 47901-1826
765-449-1234
Education
Purdue University, 1978, B.S. Horticulture
Purdue University, 1991, M.S. Horticulture
Educational emphasis on herbs, spices and medicinal plants.
Working experience
1996 - 2000 BENZALCO, L.L.C. ; Member. Design and sale of products for distillation and handling of aromatic herbs and spices.
1996 - 2000 NewCROP Website manager; construction of horticultural and botanical internet pages for the Indiana Center for New Crops and Plant Products, at the Purdue University Department of Horticulture. System operator for the Horticulture Department web server, working for professor Jules Janick.
1991 - 1995 Research Technician, Purdue University. Development of Ancistrocladus korupensis leaf alkaloid production systems in Cameroon. Steam distillation of patchouli, vetiver and cananga essential oils in Indonesia. Extractions and analysis of Erigeron canadensis, Artemisia annua, methyl-cinnamate, citral, and limonene containing basils, dill, spearmint and peppermint essential oils; including water management, irrigation scheduling and fertilization in peppermint, and the collection of basil germplasm from off-season plots in Mexico. Greenhouse propagation experiments with Glycyrrhiza glabra and Gentiana lutea.
1995 - Consultant for Agribusiness Development Project, Jakarta, Indonesia. Technical review of patchouli, vetiver and cananga essential oils and distillation practices on Java, Nias and Sumatra.
1993 -1995 Board of Directors, Jerry E. Clegg Botanical Gardens, Lafayette, Indiana.
1988-1991 Graduate Research Assistant, Purdue University. Designed and
constructed pilot-plant sized steam-distillation essential oil extractor for
mints and other aromatic plants. Expertise in steam extraction of natural
products. Research on irrigation scheduling, water management and essential oil
accumulation in peppermint.
Ecuadoran field work on Tipo, Minthostachys
mollis, an Andean essential oil plant.
1989 - Purdue Horticulture Department. Teaching assistant for undergraduate laboratory: "Fundamentals of Plant Propagation" with Dr. Robert Joly.
1986-1988 - Purdue University, Chemical Engineering Department - Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering, Research Associate in fermentation technology: experiments in the production of various bio-organic compounds including 2,3-butanediol, acetoin and thixotropic polysaccharides.
1984-1986 - Great Lakes Chemical Corporation. Organic chemistry research technician, bench chemist working in the area of flame retardant chemicals and synthesis of brominated polymers.
1983-1984 - Studies in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at Purdue University.
1982 - Clegg Botanical Gardens, Lafayette, Indiana. Identification and labeling of plant collection; head naturalist and instructor for visiting groups.
1981-1984 -Tippecanoe County Historical Association, Lafayette, Indiana. Developer and teacher of wild food foraging programs for the county parks system.
1980-1981- Purdue University, Botany and Plant Pathology Department. Laboratory technician in plant virology; cultivating infected plants, isolating and identifying strains of pathogenic plant viruses.
Skills and Interests
Experienced in plant collections in Cameroon, Indonesia and Central & South America, in germplasm evaluation, selection and domestication methodologies leading to horticultural crop production systems for wild-type species. Specialization in vegetative and seed propagation of aromatic and medicinal herbs and woody plant materials, and in introducing the latest cultivation technologies for field testing of soil characteristics, plant tissue analysis, irrigation and foliar & root disease diagnosis.
Essential oil extractions and distillations to derive unusual essential oils and plant products from raw materals. My interests lie in botanochemicals, wild food plants, herb and spice production, and tropical horticulture. My agricultural background underlies my interest in chemistry, practical invention and maintenance in technical-mechanical areas. Boiler mechanics, electrical wiring, welding, hydroponics and greenhouse common-sense name just a few.
Experienced in the use of HTML page-making programing and server operation/maintenance for Macintosh OS; including application knowlege for visual imaging, spreadsheets, graphics and statistical analysis. Laboratory experience in many chemical and biological laboratory methods, including organic compound synthesis, gas chromatography, gel permeation chromatography, N.M.R. and mass spectrometry data interpretation, U.V. spectroscopy, enzyme-linked-immuno-absorbent-assay (ELISA), protein and polysaccharide assays, darkroom photography, sterile culture techniques, and essential oil extractions.
Languages
Read and speak some Spanish and Italian, travel and work experience in Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Cameroon and Indonesia.
Publications
"Monitoring irrigation on peppermint in midwest: A research summary report for 1989" (with J.E. Simon and R.J. Joly) Mint Industry Research Council 1989 Research Program (11/89) pp 1-23.
"Water management and irrigation scheduling for herbs and aromatic plants" (with J.E. Simon) Proceedings of Herbs '90: Fifth Annual Conference of the Herb Growers and Marketers Association, Baltimore, June 30-July 3,1990. pp 34-42.
"Construction and design of a portable steam distillation unit for essential oil crops" (with J.E. Simon) HortScience 25:9, 1990, p 165.
"Monitoring irrigation on peppermint in Midwest: A research summary report for 1990" (with J.E. Simon and R.J. Joly) Mint Industry Research Council 1990 Research Program (11/90) pp 1-24.
"Use of infra red thermometry to predict plant water status in peppermint" (with J.E. Simon) Acta Horticulturae 306: International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. XXIII International Congress, Florence, Italy. 1990, p 293.
"Irrigation and water management for peppermint in the Midwest: A research summary report for 1991" (with J.E. Simon and R.J. Joly) Mint Industry Research Council 1991 Research Program (11/91) pp 1-20.
"Irrigation, water stress and water management research on Midwestern peppermint. Annual MIRC report for 1992" (with J.E. Simon and R.J. Joly) Mint Industry Research Council 1992 Research Program (11/92) pp 1-21.
"Design and construction of a transportable steam distillation unit for the extraction of essential oils" (with J.E. Simon), HortTechnology 2 (3):473-476. 1992.
"Water management for Midwestern peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) growing in highly organic soils, Indiana, USA" (with J.E. Simon) Acta Horticulturae:International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. XXIV International Congress, Tiberias, Israel 344:544-556. 1993.
"New tools for the herb grower" (with J.E. Simon) Proceedings of Herbs '90:Eighth Annual Conference of the International Herb Growers and Marketers Association, Bellevue, Washington. July 8-11, 1993. pp 79-86.
"Response of peppermint to nitrogen fertilization and irrigation when grown under organic and mineral soils of the midwest., Annual MIRC report for 1993" (with J.E.Simon) Mint Industry Research Council 1994 Research Program (11/93) pp 1-14.
"Tipo, Minthostachys mollis (Lamiaceae): an Ecuadorian mint" (with A.O. Tucker and M.J. Maciarello), for Economic Botany. 48:60-64. 1994.
"Impact of nitrogen rate and form on midwestern peppermint and spearmint; Annualprogress report from 1994 field research.", (with J.E. Simon) Mint Industry Research Council 1995 Research Program (11/94) pp 1-19.
"Investigations on Ancistrocladus korupensis: A promising source of Michellamine B from Cameroon" (with J.E. Simon, J.G. Jato, G.M. Cragg, D.W.Thomas, P. Symonds, T.G. McCloud, P.F. Foster, M.R. Morales, J. Miller and R.E. Gereau) presented at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Economic Botany, 20-26 June, 1994, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
"Chemical characterization of two aromatic plants from the Cameroon rain forest:Copaifera mildbraedii and Xyolpia aethiopica" (with D.W. Thomas, J.E. Simon and D.J. Charles) presented at the 35th annual meeting of the Society for Economic Botany, 20- 26 June, 1994, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
"Feasibility studies on the cultivation of the Cameroon plant, Ancistrocladus korupensis:" (with J.E. Simon, J. G. Jato, P. Symonds, D.W.Thomas, M.R. Morales, R.E. Gereau, E. Jato and T.G. McCloud). Annual progress report submitted to the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda Maryland. March 10, 1995.
"Distillation practices of Patchouli, Vetiver and Cananga, A technical review" Report to the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Industry. Agribusiness Development Project, Jakarta, Indonesia. April 5, 1995.
"Spices and Essential Oils of the East Indies" International Herb Association 'Herbs '95' Conference Proceedings. Chicago, Illinois, 27-30 July,1995.
"Response of Midwestern peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) and native spearmint (M. spicata L.) to rate and form of nitrogen fertilizer" Acta Horticulturae International Symposium on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Amherst Massachusetts, 27-30 August, 1995.
"The NewCROP Electronic Network" (with J. Janick, J.E. Simon and A. Whipkey) to be presented at the American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. July 22-26, 1997.