UGA Tifton Campus

Office location: 225 Horticulture Building

Laboratory: 211 Horticulture Building

My vegetable research interests include a) Plasticulture/Protected Agriculture Technologies (plant responses to plastic film mulches, shade nets, and high tunnels) and Crop-Environmental Interactions; b) Effect of Preharvest Factors on Postharvest Quality; c) Sustainable/Organic Vegetable Production (efficient use of fertilizers and water; utilization of cover crops and reduced tillage; reduced use of inputs).

Research Areas

Plasticulture/Protected Agriculture Technologies

• Plant physiological responses and crop-environmental interactions of vegetables when grown using plastic film mulches, shade nets, and high tunnels.
• Agricultural film environmental impacts.
• Biodegradable mulches

Sustainable/Organic Vegetable Production

• Soil and plant health; efficient use of fertilizers and irrigation water.
• Cover crops and reduced tillage.
• Reduced inputs.

Effect of Preharvest Factors on Postharvest Quality

• Influences of air temperature, irrigation, fertilization, plant diseases, and insects on vegetable quality.
• Fruit physiological disorders such as sunburn and blossom-end rot.

Teaching

• HORT 3010 Introduction to Vegetables (Tifton campus)
  

Appointments

• 14% Teaching
• 81% Research
• 5% Service

Education

• B.S. Agriculture & Plant Science, University of Guadalajara, Mexico, 1983
• M.S. Plant Physiology, University of California - Davis, 1989
• Ph.D. Plant Physiology, University of California - Davis, 1994