Joe began his professional career as an extension agent in Steuben County in the southern tier of New York in 1964. He joined the staff of the Department of Vegetable Crops at Cornell University in 1968 where he had responsibility for the extension and applied research program for horticultural aspects of potato production. In 1980 he relocated to Riverhead, NY to assume the responsibility of Coordinator at Cornell's Long Island Horticultural Research Center. He has been an active member of the Potato Association of America, a professional society for the advancement of knowledge of all aspects of the potato. He has served this organization in many capacities, including as President and was elected Honorary Life Member. He has co-authored two editions of the Potato Association of America Handbook, Commercial Potato Production In North America.Joe and his wife, Mary Ann, have three grown children.