Chieri Kubota is a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University. She received her PhD in horticultural engineering and MS in horticultural science from Chiba University, Japan. Dr. Kubota worked as faculty for 6 years at Chiba University and 16 years in the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona; she recently joined the faculty at The Ohio State University. Her research program focuses on the development of science-based technologies in the area of controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Dr. Kubota’s research includes value-added CEA crop production, vegetable grafting, hydroponic strawberry production, and LED lighting applications.
Anthony P. Keinath is a professor of plant pathology and the research (80%) and Extension (20%) vegetable pathologist at the Clemson University Coastal Research and Education Center in Charleston, South Carolina. He received his PhD and MS in plant pathology from Cornell University. He then spent 3 years with the USDA in Beltsville, Maryland, as a postdoctoral plant pathologist before joining Clemson in 1991. His area of expertise is diseases of cucurbits, particularly gummy stem blight, Fusarium wilt, and anthracnose of watermelon. He has served as senior editor and editor-in-chief of the journal Plant Disease, as chair of The American Phytopathological Society (APS) Publications Board, and as a two-term member of the APS Council. Dr. Keinath is the recipient of the 2018 Godley-Snell Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research from Clemson University and the 2020 Outstanding Plant Pathologist Award from the Southern Division of APS.