Dr. Tom Fernandez was first exposed to horticulture as a 10 - year old working in his grandparent ’s pocket-sized foliage glasshouse . His stake in flora grow during the 8 year he worked there before maneuver to University of Florida for his B.S. and M.S. degree in horticulture . There , he research cold protection method for fruit crops , specifically the effects of moth-eaten aegis methods on citrus fruit physiology . From there , he continued his pedagogy as a PhD scholarly person at Michigan State University where he researched drought tolerance in apple root ancestry . After graduating from the Ph.D. program , he realise a staff position at Louisiana State University , before steer to Clemson University for four years . Then , in 1999 , he affect back to MSU as a new module penis .
Before becoming a faculty member at multiple institutes , his enquiry was mostly on yield craw , but he then made a transition to ornamental crop research . As a unexampled module phallus at MSU , he focalize on how piss management praxis sham glasshouse plant production and the core on the surrounding environment . Specifically , he was interested in reducing water - employment , as well as pesticide and alimentary rill - off by altering irrigation method acting . He begin by looking at vulgar irrigation practice session that growers apply , and found that by changing practices , 30 - 70 % less water can be used to produce a quality crop . Furthermore , lose weight the amount of water applied also foreshorten the amount of fertilizer and pesticide run - off . More recently , he has researched where and how pesticides move with run - off water and by percolating through the land . To amend pesticide crusade , he has see at different bioreactors conflate with expanded aggregates that can take chemicals that are harmful to the surround . By using certain bioreactors , element like atomic number 7 and phosphorous can be decreased to levels that are insensible .
in conclusion , he has look at methods to enchant and recycle unused pee . Besides enquiry , Tom is heavily knotty in teach undergraduate courses in the Departmental of Horticulture . presently , he instruct greenhouse direction and plant life identification classes . He also has an extension component where he works with Michigan baby’s room operations . Tom plans to stay inquiry on irrigation practices and how to ameliorate programming irrigation in nursery . After his donnish career , he hopes to move some place strong and near the ocean so he can enjoy his hobbyhorse of sailing . Some advice he would proffer to graduate students is to not limit yourself to forge only on a harvest or project you worked on during graduate school . Use the acquisition you learned and be open to all opportunity .
Source : Michigan State University ( Nathan Kelly )
