propagation of pawpaw and with Dr. Douglas Archbold on pawpaw postharvest physiology; both are researchers in the Dept. of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky (UK). Having led one of the larger programs in terms of personnel in CRS, I have overseen and supervised research personnel (Co-Is, RAs, Technicians, and students) with a range of experiences and degree levels.

Teaching and Mentoring Students (25%): I mentored five MES graduate students this year (Srijana ThapaMagar, Sijan Pandit, Matthew Behrends, Harry Momo, and Brian Edgar). Over the last eight years at KSU, I developed and/or have been an instructor for the following courses: AFE 217 Plant Science (3 credits), AFE 407 Agroforestry: A local and Global Perspective (3 credits), ENV 545 Molecular Techniques for Environmental and Aquatic Studies (3 credits), and ENV 585 Special Topics in AFE (3 credits). In the past I have also taught, BIO 495: Special Topics in Biology-Understanding Biotechnology. (3 cr). Undergraduate students gain “hands on” experience with the methods of molecular biology used in biotechnology. I have mentored 12 Masters of Science in Environmental Studies graduate students in projects involving genetic diversity of spicebush and pawpaw, invasive plant incidence, and fruit and vegetable crops. I have mentored two postdoctoral researchers at KSU, served on the committees of six Aquaculture MS graduate students at KSU, and co-advised two MS and two Ph.D. students at UK. I serve as a mentor in the summer KSU Research and Extension Apprentice Program, which allows minority high school students to gain experience in laboratory techniques through a directed research project. As an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticulture at UK, I guest lecture in the fruit and nut production class concerning pawpaw and hazelnut production practices.

Extension activities: I have replied to over 1000 emails, letters, and telephone calls over the last 10 years, visited grower sites, and organized one to two field days each year. I conceptualized and chaired the Second, Third, and Fourth International Pawpaw Conferences. Over 140 people attended each Conference I developed a pawpaw information website (http://www.pawpaw kysu.edu) that has had over 1,000,000 visitors since 1999 which was recognized as an outstanding horticultural extension publication by Southern Region-American Society for Horticultural Science in 2000.

2012-2015. Associate Research Director (50%) and Professor in the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (25% Research and 25% Teaching), Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY.

1998-Present. Curator, USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Asimina species, Kentucky State University. Maintenance and acquisition of Asimina species germplasm collection. As a satellite site of the repository at Corvallis OR, the KSU orchards contain more than 2000 accessions from 66 distinct geographic regions in 17 different states.

1998-2012. Principal Investigator of Horticulture. Kentucky State University, Frankfort, KY. Research and Supervision: About 90% of my research effort is focused toward developing pawpaw [Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal] as a new commercial crop, with the remaining 10% of our research effort directed toward primocane fruiting blackberry, gooseberry, currant, and hazelnut variety trials.

2008-Present. Adjunct Associate Professor of Horticulture, University of Kentucky. After completing the promotion process at UK, I was promoted to Adjunct Associate Professor I pursue collaborative research projects with faculty in the UK Horticulture Department that involve pomology and crop production systems. I co-advise graduate students and have cooperative research projects with members of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky. I also guest lecture in fruit and nut production courses and assist the department in other horticultural research and extension matters.

1998-2008. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Horticulture, University of Kentucky.

1996-1998. Post-doctoral Research Associate. USDA-ARS, at Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine. My research examined the transport and storage of calcium in green bean pods, in an effort to increase bioavailable calcium levels to benefit the nutritional needs of humans. Supervisor: Dr. Michael Grusak.