Bernadine Strik
{{Short description|Horticulturalist (1962–2023)}}
Bernadine Strik (April 29, 1962 – April 14, 2023) was a Dutch-Canadian-American horticulturist, horticultural researcher, and professor of horticulture.{{Cite news |last=Slotnik |first=Daniel E. |date=2023-05-12 |title=Bernadine Strik, Whose Insights Helped Blueberries Thrive, Dies at 60 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/science/bernadine-strik-dead.html |access-date=2023-05-13 |issn=0362-4331}}
Early life and education
Bernadine Cornelia Strik was born April 29, 1962, in The Hague. In 1965 her family moved to Tantanoola, South Australia, and in 1971 to Qualicum Beach, Vancouver, Canada. Strik's parents, Gerald and Christine (née Alkemade) Strik, owned a nursery and landscaping business. Both sets of grandparents had been in the produce industry in Holland.{{Cite web |title=Berry researcher Bernadine Strik dies |url=https://vegetablegrowersnews.com/news/berry-researcher-bernadine-strik-dies/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Vegetable Growers News |language=en-US}}
Strik graduated from the University of Victoria with a bachelor's degree in botany in 1983 and from the University of Guelph with a doctoral degree in horticulture in 1987.
Career
Strik taught horticulture at Oregon State University starting in 1987 as an assistant professor. In 1997 she became a full professor. Her primary research interests were berries, and in particular blueberries.{{Cite web |last=Plaven |first=George |date=23 April 2023 |title=Bernadine Strik remembered for her impact on NW berry industry |url=https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/orchards_nuts_vines/bernadine-strik-remembered-for-her-impact-on-nw-berry-industry/article_435bd71a-dd70-11ed-bc8d-5320b58c3ef7.html |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Capital Press |language=en}}
Strik's research changed the methods used by blueberry growers in the United States and elsewhere. Prior to her work, farmers had planted blueberry bushes four feet apart, mulching them with sawdust, and providing no support. Strik developed recommendations to space the plants closer together, trellis them, and use weedmats; her research increased yields and reduced losses. She also developed methods for organic farming of blueberries, including the use of raised beds.{{Cite web |title=Oregon State University Berry Authority Bernadine Strik Presents the 2022 ARS B.Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture : USDA ARS |url=https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2022/oregon-state-university-berry-authority-bernadine-strik-presents-the-2022-ars-by-morrison-memorial-lecture/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=USDA}} She also developed methods for growing strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and cranberries. Outside of berries, Strik helped identify and combat the 1990 phylloxera invasion that threatened Oregon's wineries.{{cite book |last=Blosser |first=Susan Sokol |author-link= |date=2008 |title=At Home in the Vineyard: Cultivating a Winery, an Industry, and a Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HagwDwAAQBAJ |location= |publisher=University of California Press |pages=165–166 |isbn=9780520256293}}
In 2007 she was elected a fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science and in 2021 a fellow of the International Society for Horticultural Science.{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Michael |date=2023-04-27 |title=Bernadine Strik, whose blueberry research guided the Oregon crop to global prominence, dies at 60 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/food/2023/04/bernadine-strik-whose-blueberry-research-guided-the-oregon-crop-to-global-prominence-dies-at-60.html |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=The Oregonian |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=4 October 2021 |title=Bernadine Strik, Ph.D., Honored With Duke Galletta Award From NABC |url=https://nabc.blueberry.org/newsroom/bernadine-strik-ph-d-honored-with-duke-galletta-award-from-nabc/ |website=North American Blueberry Council}} She retired in 2021.
Impact
Personal life
Strik married fellow horticulturist Neil Bell in 1994. The couple had two daughters. She died of ovarian cancer April 14, 2023, in Corvallis, Oregon.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strik, Bernadine}}
Category:University of Victoria alumni
Category:University of Guelph alumni
Category:Oregon State University faculty
Category:American horticulturists
Category:American women academics
Category:Dutch women academics
Category:Canadian women academics
Category:Dutch emigrants to the United States