For instance, he recently completed a project to help tomato transplant growers prevent legginess in transplants without the use of chemicals. He also developed a screening method to select for heat-tolerant broccoli, on which he collaborated with Mike Dickson. The teams of scientists at Geneva makes this kind of work really productive. He also acknowledges the expertise of the 12 current and former members of his lab, and the Station field staff in making the progress recognized by this promotion. It is wonderful to have a group that cares so much about your work.
Good observation is the key to doing the right experiments in science.
The growers I work with make valuable contributions with their keen observations, and they also provide a candid evaluation on the value of the results. Among other projects, he is now responsible for cooperative trials all over the state with farmers who grow fresh market and processing sweet corn. Important variables are the different types of soil around the state and the soil management practices employed by different farmers. We need to know what it takes to keep this helpful fungus happy in the field. He did a post-doc at the University of Washington in Seattle on Gravitational Biology, and came to the Experiment Station in 1990.