I have an 80/20 Extension/Research split appointment within the Department of Horticulture at UGA. After spending several years as the commercial vegetable specialist in Tifton, I moved to the Athens campus. Although I still have commercial vegetable responsibilities much of my focus is on organic vegetable production and helping many of our farmers develop strategies to increase organic vegetable acreage in Georgia. I focus mainly on applied, field-based research that can be readily used by farmers. I have and continue to conduct research in nearly all areas of vegetable production including variety trialing, fertilization and irrigation management, high tunnel production, and mechanical cultivation and weed management. We conduct much of our research at the Durham Horticulture Research Farm in Watkinsville, GA, where we have several acres of USDA certified organic land.

In addition, I have responsibilities for industrial hemp production outreach in Georgia. While we are currently reducing our hemp research footprint, in the past we’ve conducted field trials focusing on variety selection, fumigation, planting date, and fiber hemp production all across the state. We also currently have two PhD students working on postharvest drying and storing of hemp and heavy metal (Cd) uptake in hemp for flower (cannabinoid production).

I am currently the UGA SARE coordinator working with our SARE program assistant Sarah Jackson Sarvis. We share responsibilities with Dr. Mark Latimore at Fort Valley State University.

Education

• BS, University of Georgia, 2000
• MS, University of Georgia, 2003 (Onion Flavor Physiology)
• PhD, University of Georgia, 2007 (Factors Affecting Onion Storage)

Former Students

• Savanah Laur (MS)
• Luke Miller (MS)
• Kalen Fleming (MPPM, co-advise with Dr. Alton Sparks)
• Zheng Wang (PhD)