David grew up in Southern California and did his doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis in the heart of the Central Valley of California, the largest tomato-producing region in the world. The Central Valley of California is a very hot, dry environment in the summer. By comparison, the Midwest is cooler and more humid, conditions that are much more favorable, for plant pathogens. The primary goal of his research group is to use the genetic information of wild type and domesticated tomato varieties to develop new cultivars with improved fruit quality and disease resistance for the Mid west environment. Ultimately though, the product of his research has to be a tasty tomato, so yes David eats his work.