The PIVC platform - the fast grapevine
We use controlled environment technology to manipulate flowering and rooting of grapevine genotypes. We call this process Precise Indoor Vine Conditioning (PIVC). The PIVC platform allows us to investigate grapevine physiology under a variety of scenarios. PIVC further allows us to develop grapevines that can be planted and cropped in one year, effectively allowing for annual grape production systems in the future. This will help growers to faster re-plant, adopt to climate change or mesoclimate problems. PIVC also can assist breeding efforts (grape speed breeding). This becomes important especially for the develpment of new cultivars that are more adopted to climate change. We estimate that PIVC can 'speed up' grape breeding by up to 50% compared to traditional breeding methods.

Adoption of cultivars to regional conditions
We evaluate grapevine cultivars in two field trials across the state of NC for their adaptability to biotic stressors (Pierce's Disease) as well as yield potential.‍
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Clean Strawberry Plant Production
Our research focuses on imroving technology that will lead to faster and cleaner production of strawberry plants. Our group is leading a nationwide project (USDA-SCRI 2021-51181-35857) to develop technologies for faster and cleaner strabwerry transplant production. Our group specifically focuses on optimizing of environmental conditions to improve flowering behavior of a range of stawberry genotypes. We further use our indoor strawberry systems to phenotype reproductive behavior of a range of cultivars, in collaboration with University of Maryland.

Evaluation of cultivars in plasticulture and greenhouse environments
We consistantly evaluate strawberry cultivars and advanced selections in open-field and greenhouse environments in North Carolina.