Erin Yafuso is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida and is working to assist growers by identifying the best ways to supply adequate water and oxygen to plants roots.
Producing a healthy crop is anchored in the roots of a plant. Dr. Fisher and Erin are studying the relationship between water to oxygen and effect on rooting in container-propagated plants. They will focus on
- evaluating a technology to super-saturate oxygen in irrigation water
- quantifying substrate microenvironment the balance between water and air
- quantifying the effect of substrates at varied moisture level on root growth by 3D imaging (as seen in the image).
Erin comes from Hawaii with a B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Molecular Biology, she would like to pursue a career in plant sciences.
Source: Floriculture Research Alliance