Associate Professor of Pomology
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Ioannis Minas is an Associate Professor of Pomology with the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Colorado State University since October 2015. Dr. Minas received his PhD in Pomology and Postharvest Physiology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. During his PhD studies was appointed as a Junior Specialist for 2 years at the Dept. of Plant Sciences at University of California Davis, CA. His research program at CSU emphasizes on the characterization of the influence of genetic and environmental factors on fruit tree physiology and productivity and understanding how these factors affect fruit phenotype, metabolism, flavor and postharvest performance with focus on peach. His research integrates techniques from core fruit tree physiology, cold hardiness, flowering biology, fruit quality, non-destructive sensors, postharvest technology, ripening physiology, metabolomics and proteomics. Dr. Minas has developed and maintains close extension/outreach relationships with the tree fruit industry to perform relevant applied research and communicate research findings through grower educational activities. Dr. Minas is senior or co-author in more than 50 peer reviewed publications in the field of pomology and postharvest physiology and serves as the chair of the peach rootstock evaluation trials within the frame of the USDA’s multi-state project North Central (NC)-140.

Contact Dr. Minas via email to learn more about his research.
Ioannis.Minas@colostate.edu

Associate Professor of Crop Quantitative Genomics
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences

Geoffrey Morris was trained as an evolutionary genome biologist at University of Ottawa (B.Sc., Biology) and University of Chicago (Ph.D., Ecology & Evolution). His research specialty is crop adaptation genomics, with a focus on population and quantitative genomics of adaptive traits in sorghum and its relatives. The Morris lab at CSU develops and implements new approaches to understand and improve crop adaptation. Their mission is to develop knowledge and technology that accelerate the development of climate-resilient crops. They map genes that underlie climate adaptation and develop new approaches to understand and predict adaptation. Sorghum – a global food, forage, and feed crop – is the lab’s focal system. They work directly with breeding programs in developing countries (Senegal, Niger, Haiti, and others) and in the US (Kansas, Texas, South Carolina) to facilitate development of better-adapted varieties of sorghum.

Contact Dr. Morris via email to learn more about his research.
geoffrey.morris@colostate.edu

Associate Professor, Water Resources Specialist
Western Colorado Research Center

Perry Cabot received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering and Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. His research program focuses on innovative irrigation technologies, sustainable water resources management and crop consumptive use evaluation. He is the water resources specialist for CSU Extension and the Colorado Water Center in the Western Region of the state. He also leads the research and extension mission of the WCRC-Fruita in its role as the western CSU campus unit focused on water resources, integrated cropping systems and climate-smart agriculture.

Contact Dr. Cabot via email to learn more about his research.
perry.cabot@colostate.edu

Associate Professor, Horticultural Entomology
Department of Agricultural Biology

Ada Szczepaniec is an Associate Professor of Horticultural Entomology in the department of Agricultural Biology at Colorado State University. She received her Ph.D. from University of Maryland in 2009, and previously worked as Extension Specialist in Field Crops Entomology at South Dakota State University and Assistant Professor of Entomology at Texas A&M University System. Her current work focuses on integrated tactics to suppress eruptive plant pests and to promote deeper understanding of mechanisms that lower resistance of plants in managed landscapes. The goal of her work is to make meaningful contributions to extend this knowledge to plant protection and improve long-term sustainability of pest management.

Contact Dr. Szczepaniec via email to learn more about her research.
ada.szczepaniec@colostate.edu

Professor
Department of Animal Sciences

R. “Mark” Enns grew up working on the family’s fourth-generation wheat and cattle operation in northwest Oklahoma. Those early experiences stimulated his interest in livestock and agriculture and led him to undergraduate degrees from Tabor College, and master’s and doctorate degrees in animal breeding and genetics from Colorado State University.

As a professor at CSU, he teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level in animal breeding and genetics and in livestock production systems. His primary research focus is on beef cow adaptability/longevity and genetic improvement in susceptibility to bovine respiratory disease and pulmonary hypertension (also known as high mountain or brisket disease). He has a special interest in using multi-trait selection and genetic improvement to improve the profitability of beef production at the producer level. Enns serves the beef industry through the CSU Center for Genetic Evaluation of Livestock—a center that calculates expected progeny differences and performs foundational genetic evaluation research for breed associations and producer groups both nationally and internationally. In addition, he serves on the board of directors for the Beef Improvement Federation as the western region secretary.

Contact Dr. Enns via email to learn more about his research.
mark.enns@colostate.edu