Southwest Florida Research & Education Center

SWFREC supports thirteen faculty programs and a staff of more than 90 people. Active research programs in citrus horticulture, vegetable horticulture, irrigation and water resource management, precision agricultural engineering, pest management, plant pathology, citrus pathology, agricultural and natural resource economics, soil microbiology, plant physiology, weed science, soil science, and agricultural economics occur on 320 acres of land at SWFREC. The faculty and staff of SWFREC serve a vibrant commercial agricultural region.

SWFREC Directory

Michael Burton

Center Director, Ph.D

burton.m@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee

2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
Tel:(239) 658-3413
Fax:(239) 658-3403

Ute Albrecht

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Plant Physiology

ualbrecht@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3422

Ozgur Batuman

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Citrus Pathology

obatuman@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3408

Kimberly Morgan

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Agricultural Economics

kimorgan@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3428

Sanjay Shukla

Professor, Ph.D.

Water Resources Engineering

sshukla@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3425

Nikolaos Tziolas

Assistant Professor, Ph.D.

Soil Science Artificial Intelligence

ntziolas@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3448

Fernando Alferez

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Citrus Horticulture

alferez@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3426

Dr. Stephanie Brown

State Specialized Agent

Food Science

stephaniebrown@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 324 - 4805

Jawwad Qureshi

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Entomology

JawwadQ@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3458

Sarah L Strauss

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Soil Microbiology

strauss@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3468

Tara R Wade

Assistant Professor, Ph.D.

Agricultural Natural Resources Economics

Tara.Wade@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3444

Yiannis Ampatzidis

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Precision Agriculture

i.ampatzidis@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3451

Ramdas Kanissery

Associate Professor, Ph.D.

Weed Science

rkanissery@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3455

Pamela D Roberts

Professor, Ph.D.

Plant Pathology

pdr@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3430

Pavlos Tsouvaltzis

Assistant Professor, Ph.D.

Vegetable Horticulture

ptsouv@ufl.edu

UF / IFAS SWFREC - Immokalee
2685 SR 29 N | Immokalee, FL 34142
(239) 658-3444

2015_Arnold_C_465x581

Dr. Calvin Arnold
Professor Emeritus
Horticultural Sciences
cearnold@ufl.edu

Dr. Edward A. Hanlon
Professor Emeritus
Soil and Water Science
eahanlon@ufl.edu

Administration

	Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
	Dr. Michael Burton	Center Director	(239) 658-3413	burton.m@ufl.edu

Administrative Support

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Denise Bates	Administrative Support Assistant	(239) 658-3424	ddbates@ufl.edu
Angelina Gonzales	Accountant	(239) 658-3450	a.gonzales@ufl.edu
Mahmoud,Kamal Abdel-K	Research Coordinator	(239) 658-3400	kaem@ufl.edu
Maria Miranda	Human Resources Generalist	(239) 658-3420	mariamiranda@ufl.edu
Allison Walton	Administrative Support Assistant	(239) 658-3400	awalton3@ufl.edu

Farm Fleet and Facilities Operations

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Zoe Watson	Farm Manager	(239) 658-3434	zshobert@ufl.edu
Perfecto Aragus	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	pgaragus@ufl.edu
Crystal Ayala	Custodial Worker	(239) 658-3400	ayala.c@ufl.edu
Gagnon,Paul (Pete)	Maintenance	(239) 658-3400	paulgagnon@ufl.edu
Hald,Joshua T	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	jhald@ufl.edu
Roger McGill	Maintenance Generalist	(239) 658-3400	frmc@ufl.edu
Jose Rosas	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	josegrosas@ufl.edu
Ivan Rua	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	irua@ufl.edu

Information Technology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Kevin Hill	IT Professional	(239) 658-3439	kuh@ufl.edu
Marisol Sanchez Gonzalez	Applic Developer Analyst	(239) 658-3435	sanchezm@ufl.edu

Media

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Julie Carson	Marketing and Comm Specialist	(239) 658-3462	carsonj@ufl.edu

Agricultural Economics

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Kimberly L Morgan	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3428	kimorgan@ufl.edu
Michael T Bayer	OPS	(239) 658-3400	michaelbayer@ufl.edu
Victor Contreras	OPS	(239) 658-3400	vjosue.contreras@ufl.edu
Elizabeth F. Price	Education Training Specialist	(239) 658-3400	e.price@ufl.edu

Agricultural Natural Resources Economics

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Tara Wade	Assistant Professor	(239) 658-3444	Tara.Wade@ufl.edu
Shourish Chakravarty	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	shourish@ufl.edu
Lonege Ogisma	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	lonegeogisma@ufl.edu

Precision Agriculture Engineering

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Yiannis Ampatzidis	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3451	i.ampatzidis@ufl.edu
Roy Batuman	OPS	(239) 658-3400	roybatuman@ufl.edu
Antonio de Oliveira Costa Neto	Engineering and Research Technologist	(239) 658-3400	antoniodeoliveir@ufl.edu
Hengyue (David) Guan	OPS	(239) 658-3400	hengyue.guan@ufl.edu
Shiyu Liu	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	shiyu.liu@ufl.edu
Wenhao Liu	Graduate Research Assistant	(239) 658-3400	wenhaoliu@ufl.edu
Victor Henrique Meirelles Partel	OPS	(239) 658-3400	vmeirellespartel@ufl.edu
Georgios Paliouras	Graduate Research Assistant	(239) 658-3400	gpaliouras@ufl.edu
Carolina Trentin	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	carolina.trentin@ufl.edu
Vinay Vijayakumar	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	v66vijayakumar@ufl.edu

Water Resources

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Sanjay Shukla	Professor	(239) 658-3425	sshukla@ufl.edu
Miriam Arango	OPS	(239) 658-3400	marango@ufl.edu
Summer Dae De La Cruz	OPS	(239) 658-3400	summerdelacruz@ufl.edu
William Donaghyt	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3400	william.donaghy@ufl.edu
Adam Fuerst	Graduate Research Assistant	(239) 658-3400	adam.fuerst@ufl.edu
Hadi Ghaderian	OPS	(239) 658-3400	h.ghaderian@ufl.edu
Marjan Hadad	OPS	(239) 658-3400	mhadad@ufl.edu
Chayse L Harrell	OPS	(239) 658-3400	charrell1@ufl.edu
Gregory Hendricks	OPS	(239) 658-3466	hendrick@ad.ufl.edu
Mehran Homayounfar	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	homayounfar@ufl.edu
Neelnayana Kalita	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	nkalita@ufl.edu
Osleidy Lopez Rondon	OPS	(239) 658-3400	olopezrondon@ufl.edu
Ismael Ramirez	OPS	(239) 658-3400	ismael.ramirez@ufl.edu
Alonzo Rebolledo-Duran	OPS	(239) 658-3400	arebolledoduran@ufl.edu
Diego Rodriguez-Juarez	OPS	(239) 658-3400	diego.rodriguezj@ufl.edu
Vijay Santikari	Engineering & Research Technologist	(239) 658-3418	vsantikari@ufl.edu
Justin Schabow	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	jschabow@ufl.edu
Blake Williamson	OPS	(239) 658-3400	bwilliamson2@ufl.edu

Entomology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Jawwad Qureshi	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3458	JawwadQ@ufl.edu
Xuedong Chen	OPS Research Assistant	(239) 658-3400	xuedo1gchen@ufl.edu
Barry Kostyk	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3457	bkostyk@ufl.edu
Muhammad Noor ul Ane	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	mu.noorulane@ufl.edu
Monica Triana	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	mtriana@ufl.edu
Seth Tsatsu	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	stsatsy@ufl.edu

Citrus Horticulture

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Fernando Alferez	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3426	alferez@ufl.edu
Divya W. Aryal	Graduate Assistant-Research	(239) 658-3400	divyaaryal@ufl.edu
Saoussen Ben Abdallah	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	saoussen.benabda@ufl.edu
Maria Martinez	Agricultural Assistant	(239) 658-3400	martinezmaria@ufl.edu
Pablo Orozco Quesada	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	porozcoquesada@ufl.edu
Murillo Otavio de Sousa	OPS	(239) 658-3400	motaviodesousa@ufl.edu
Osbaldo Vasquez	OPS	(239) 658-3400	o.vasquez@ufl.edu

Vegetable Horticulture

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Pavlos Tsouvaltzis	Assistant Professor	(239) 658-3404	ptsouv@ufl.edu
Bryan Merlos	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	bmerlososorio@ufl.edu
Sotirios Tasioulas	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	tasioulas.s@ufl.edu
Jessie Watson	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3404	jwatson84@ufl.edu

Plant Physiology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Ute Albrecht	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3422	ualbrecht@ufl.edu
Deived Uilian De Carvalho	Post doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	ddecarvalho@ufl.edu
Gabriel de Castro Marconi Pugina	Graduate Assistant-Research	(239) 658-3420	gabrieldecastro@ufl.edu
Caroline de Favari Tardivo	Graduate Assistant-Research	(239) 658-3400	caroline.defava@ufl.edu
Jasmine de Freitas	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3400	jasminedefreitas@ufl.edu
Bryce Meyering	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3416	bbmeyering@ufl.edu
Gerardo Moreno	OPS	(239) 658-3400	morenog@ufl.edu
Larissa Nunes da Silva	OPS	(239) 658-3400	nunesdasilva.la@ufl.edu
Igor Rodrigues da Silva	Graduated Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	igorrodriguesdas@ufl.edu

Weed Science

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Ramdas Kanissery	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3455	rkanissery@ufl.edu
Nithin Batthula	OPS	(239) 658-3400	nbatthula@ufl.edu
Isabela Figueiredo de Oliveira	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	isabela.figueire@ufl.edu
Rebecca Ann McGill	OPS	(239) 658-3400	rmcgill@ufl.edu
Robert Riefer	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3400	reriefer@ufl.edu
Ruby Tiwari	Graduate Assistant	(239) 658-3400	ruby.tiwari@ufl.edu

Citrus Pathology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Ozgur Batuman	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3408	obatuman@ufl.edu
Jean Yves Berisse	Graduate Research Assistant	(239) 658-3400	jberisse@ufl.edu
Kellee Britt-Ugartemendia	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	kbritt2005@ufl.edu
Fetchina Gereus	OPS	(239) 658-3400	fgereus@ufl.edu
Sanju Kunwar	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	sanju.kunwar@ufl.edu
Lauren Fessler Mathews	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	fessler.lauren@ufl.edu
Ana Redondo	Research Coordinator	(239) 658-3400	redondo@ufl.edu

Vegetable Pathology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Pamela Roberts	Professor	(239) 658-3430	pdr@ufl.edu
Katherine Hendricks	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3445	kemh@ufl.edu
Amanda McVay	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	amandalong@ufl.edu
Stephanie Teems	Research Coordinator	(239) 658-3400	ssteems@ufl.edu

Soil Science Artificial Intelligence

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Nikolaos Tziolas	Assistant Professor	(239) 658-3400	ntziolas@ufl.edu
Ioannis Gallios	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	igallios@ufl.edu
Koushik Reddy Patnam	Student Assistant	(239) 658-3400	patnamkoushikred@ufl.edu
Anastasia Kritharoula	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	akritharoula@ufl.edu

Soil Microbiology

Name	Title	PHONE	EMAIL
Sarah Strauss	Associate Professor	(239) 658-3468	strauss@ufl.edu
Samantha Cosio	OPS	(239) 658-3400	samanthacosio@ufl.edu
Emma Dawson	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	emma.dawson@ufl.edu
Adesuwa Sylvia Erhunmwunse	Post Doctoral Associate	(239) 658-3400	erhunmwunsea@ufl.edu
Nina Charissa Aguilar Infantado	Graduate Assistant Research	(239) 658-3400	ninfantado@ufl.edu
Brittney Monus	Biological Scientist	(239) 658-3447	bmonus@ufl.edu
Karlie Regep	OPS	(239) 658-3400	karlieregep@ufl.edu

Current Students

Name	Title	Program	Research Topic
Divya Aryal		Citrus Horticulture
Victor Contreras		Agricultural Economics
Emma Dawson	PhD Student	Soil Microbiology
Gabriel de Castro Marconi Pugina		Plant Physiology
Caroline De Favari Tardivo	PhD Student	Plant Physiology	Citrus tree physiology and trunk injections.
Adam Fuerst		Water Sciences
Ioannis Gallios		Soil Science AI
Nina Charissa Aguilar Infantado	PhD Student	Soil Microbiology	Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analysis of soil organic carbon degradation genes, enzymes, and microorganisms; impact of soil moisture and flooded rice management in soil microbial oxidation and carbon storage; and linkage between carbon mineralization and nitrogen cycling in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) soils.
Neelnayana Kalita		Water Resources
Anastasia Kritharoula		Tziolas,Nikolaos
Shiyu Liu	PhD Student	Precision Agriculture Engineering	Strawberry and citrus yield predictions.
Wenhao Liu		Precision Agriculture Engineering
Lauren Fessler Mathews	MS Student	Citrus Pathology	Developing strategies to provide enhanced efficacy of trunk injections for management of Huanglongbing in Florida citrus.
Amanda Marie McVay	PhD Student	Plant Pathology	Sustainable Anthracnose Management in Cucurbits – Race-Typing, Fungicide Sensitivity Assays, & Field Trials
Bryan Merlos		Vegetable Horticulture
Larissa Nunes da Silva	PhD Student	Plant Physiology	Microcitrus hybrids, citrus rootstocks, huanglongbing (HLB) disease, and trunk injection in citrus.
Pablo Josue Orozco Quesada		Citrus Horticulture
Murillo Augusto Otavio De Sousa		Citrus Horticulture
Georgios Paliouras		Precision Agricultural Engineering
Igor Rodrigues da Silva	MS Student	Plant Physiology	Optimizing Oxytetracycline Trunk Injections to Treat Citrus Huanglongbing.
Sotirios Tasioulas		Vegetable Horticulture
Seth Kwaku Tsatsu		Entomology

Former Students

Name	Title	Program	Research Topic
Mohamed Ali	PhD student	Entomology	Management of Asian Citrus Psyllid
Leigh Archer	PhD student	Plant Physiology	Tree Physiological Responses to Trunk Injection of Therapeutics for HLB Control
Timothy Ayankojo	PhD Student	Soil Science	Irrigation and Nitrogen Management in Tomato Production Using SmartIrrigation Scheduling Model
Jean-Yves Berisse	MS Student	Entomology	Incidence And Management of The Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina Citri Kuwayama in High-Density Citrus Plantings
Daniel Boakye	PhD Student	Citrus Horticulture	Basis for Understanding Abscission and Managing Pre-harvest Fruit Drop in HLB Affected Citrus Trees
Shahrzad Bodaghi	PhD Student	Plant Physiology	Evaluation of Scion-rootstock Interaction in Response to HLB
Kellee Britt	PhD Student	Citrus Pathology	Unraveling the Asian Citrus Psyllid Virome and Its Interactions with Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus in FL Citrus
Angelica Engel	PhD Student	Water Resources	Flows in the Northern Everglades Basin Under Current and Future Climate and Sea Levels: Drivers, Modeling, and Management
Susmita Gaire	MS Student	Plant Physiology	Preventing Young Trees from Psyllids and Infection with Clas through Use of Protective Netting
Biwek Gairhe	MS Student	Weed Science	Glyphosate in Florida Citrus Production System: Environmental Fate and Effects on Citrus Health
Shirin Ghatrehsamani	PhD Student	Precision Ag	Simulation of Heat and Canopy of Disease-infected Trees Inside Mobile Heat Treatment Canopy Cover
Kira Hansen	PhD Student	Water Resources	Improved Food-Water-Energy-Disease-Land Nexus from Compact Bed Plasticulture for Fresh Produce
Sudip Kunwar	MS Student	Plant Physiology	Evaluation of Different Citrus Rootstocks’ Response to HLB in Large-scale Commercial Field Trial
Clayton Nevins	PhD Student	Soil Microbiology	Investigating Biological Soil Crusts and Nutrient Availability in Citrus Agroecosystems
Israel Ojo	PhD Student	Precision Agricultural Engineering	Development and Evaluation of an Automated Trunk Injection System to treat HLB Affected Citrus Trees
Sameer Pokhrel	MS Student	Plant Physiology	Comparison of Field Performance of Citrus Trees on Rootstocks Propagated by Seedlings, Cuttings, and Tissue Culture
Diderot Saintilma	MS Student	Vegetable Horticulture	Utilizing Warm Season Cover Crops in Florida Vegetable Production
Moonwon Soh	PhD Student	Ag Economics	Multi-conservation Practice Adoption
Kira Sorochkina	PhD Student	Soil Microbiology	Nitrogen Fixation in Agroecosystem Biological Soil Crusts
Nirmal Timilsina	MS Student	Weed Science	Pre-emergent (residual) herbicide use in citrus - Environmental fate and potential impacts on tree health and productivity.
Ruby Tiwari	PhD Student	Weed Science	Evaluating the strategies to improve pre-emergent herbicide efficacy and crop safety in vegetable plasticulture production.
David Toole	MS Student	Soil Microbiology	Bioinformatic Techniques to Determine Soil Microbial Functions
Jessica Torres Velez	PhD Student	Citrus Pathology	Evaluate transport, dynamics, and efficacy of therapeutic treatments, applied in citrus trees through novel delivery methods, for management of Candidatus liberibacter asiaticus, the bacteria associated with Huanglongbing.
Vinay Vijayakumar	PhD Student	Precision Agricultural Engineering	Autonomous smart sprayer for precision weed management using machine vision and Artificial Intelligence.
Salih Yilmaz	PhD Student	Citrus Pathology	Working on Phloem-limited Pathogens in Economically Important Crops in Florida