Prof. Dr. Bekir Erol Ak
Dr. Bekir Erol AK is a professor and head of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Harran, Faculty of Agriculture. Professor Ak, finished his education from Cukurova University and served as Assistant at the same University. After completing of his MSc and PhD on Pistachio turned to Sanliurfa University of Harran. He has been invited to numerous international meetings on Pistachio and almond as keynote speaker and is Liaison Officer on Pistachio nut of FAO –CIHEAM Network on Nut. He has organized international and national symposium or meetings on fruit crops. He has on duty international project about pistachio nut which is supported by FAO. His researches on pistachio, almond, olives, pomegranate, figs etc. on fruit trees. These areas include rootstocks, cultivars, mineral nutrition, pollination, in vitro propagation, pruning of trees etc. He has conducted numerous research projects in Sanliurfa, Hİs researches are generally on Pistachio and Almond. He is working on olive, pomegranate, fig etc. beside of pistachio and almond at Southeast Anatolian region. He is expert on tissue culture propagation of fruit trees. He has numerous publications related to micro-propagation. He has over 300 publications on different fruit crops.
Prof. Patrick H. Brown
EDUCATION
1988. Ph.D. Cornell University, NY. Agronomy and International Agricultural
Development
1984. B. Agric. Sci. First Class Honors, University of Adelaide, Australia. Agronomy
Positions Held
2022-2025 Vice chair, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis
2021 – present Distinguished Professor
2016-2018 Chair, Faculty Executive Committee of the College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis.
1999-2005 Director and Assistant Dean, International Programs CAES, University of
California, Davis.
1989-2021 Professor
MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS
Plant and Soil Nutrition. Perennial Horticulture. Precision agriculture technologies and
implementation. Physiology and biochemistry of plant nutrient uptake, interactions of nutrition
with disease resistance and the selection of crops with improved nutrient efficiency. Foliar
fertilizers, biostimulants, nutrient diagnosis. Nutritional requirements of both annual and
perennial systems, application technology and development of environmentally sound fertilizer
use. Molecular and genetic aspects of nutrient acquisition and tolerance. Nutritional physiology,
rhizosphere biology. Biology of boron and nickel in plants.
Current Memberships in Professional Societies
American Society for Plant Biology
American Society for Horticultural Science
International Society for Horticultural Science
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
Professional Society and Academic Leadership Positions
Chair, Executive Committee, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of
California, Davis 2016-2018
Chair, International Congress on Biostimulants in Agriculture. 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024
Chair, Scientific Panel for the Responsible use of Plant Nutrients. 2023-2025
Member, ASHS Hall of Fame Selection Committee, 2022-2025
Council Member, International Council for Plant Nutrition 2002-present.
President/Convenor, International Congress Boron in Biology, 2002-5
President/Convenor, International Colloquium for Plant Nutrition, 2005-2009
2
Organizing Committee, ISHS Mineral Nutrition of Fruit Trees, Wenatchee WA. 2024
Organizing Committee, ISHS Sympoisium on Almonds and Pistachio, Davis CA. 2022
Subject Editor, Biostimulants, Physiologia Plantarum 2024-present
Associate Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science, 2015-present
Associate Editor, Frontiers in Agricultural Science and Engineering, 2017-present
Editorial Board, Soil Systems, 2017-present
Awards
2009 SOPIB Researcher of the Year
2013 Fluid Fertilizer Association Researcher of the Year
2014 USDA NIFA Experiment Station Section Excellence in Research and Extension Award
2022 American Society of Plant Biology, Dennis Hoagland Award for career contributions to
Plant Biology
2022 ASA/CSSA/SSSA, Leo M Walsh Distingushed Lecturer for career contributions to the
practical improvement of soil fertility and fertilization.
2022 International Fertilizer Association. Norman Borlaug Science Award for career
contributions to agriculture through plant nutrition.
2022 Distinguished Professor, University of California.
2022 Fluid Fertilizer Foundation Researcher of Year.
2023 Chair, IFA Scientific Panel for Responsible Plant Nutrition
2024 ASHS Outstanding Researcher, 2024
Mr. Esaú Martínez Burgos
Born in 1975, married with three children. He finished his studies as an Agricultural Engineer in Madrid, in 2001. His professional beginnings were as an editor in specialized magazines in the agricultural sector and in 2011 he joined as a civil servant of the Regional Government of Castilla La Mancha, being Director of the Agro-Environmental Research Center of El Chaparrillo, for 7 years. In 2018 he began working as a senior research technician, in the woody crops department of "El Chaparrillo", being since then focused on training farmers on pistachio cultivation and on technical advice for farms. In his spare time he cultivates a pistachio farm and expands his educational work through his own technical channel on social media (Agrónomo Esaú) and a community of pistachio growers and farmers on Telegram with more than 450 members. He currently heads the Official Testing Centre for new pistachio varieties and rootstocks for the European Union (CPVO) and is a PhD student with a thesis on agronomic adaptation of pistachio varieties and rootstocks to the semi-arid climate of the interior of Iberian Peninsula.
Mr. George T. Ntoutsias
Mr Georgios Theothoros Doutsias is the President of the National Interprofessional Organization
of Table Olives (DOEPEL) since 29/12/2014.
He has studied at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Aristoteleio University in Thessaloniki from
1964 - 1969.
He attended post graduate education in France from 1973 up to 1977 at:
❖ the Université de DIJON.
❖ the Institut Nationale de Recherche Agronomique (INRA) of Dijon.
acquired the honorary titles of:
➡ D.E.S. (Diplôme d’ Etudes Supérieures) on 1974 and
➡ Doctorat ingénieur on 1977 (equivalent to the Greek Doctorate from the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki in 1977).
He has worked at “ELAIOURGIKI”, the Central Cooperative Union of Producers of olive products
(K.S.E.P.E.P.) between 1978 and 2004, and had the following positions:
➡ 1978 - 1979 factory processing unit of table olives standardization and packaging processing
plant
➡ 1980 to 1992 Office of Studies and Planning
➡ 1992 - 2002 Deputy General Manager and
➡ 2002 - 2004 General Manager
Ηe represented the cooperating olive growers as an expert regarding table olives:
- from 1980 to 2004 in the International Olive Council and
- from 1981 - 2004 in the Organizations COPA-COGECA of the EU
Since 2021 he represents the National Interprofessional Organization of Table Olive (DOEPEL)
and the country as an expert in the International ES.
Since 2005 he is in charge of the Family Agriculture Holding for the Production of Biological Table Olives.
Prof. Dr. Georgia Drakakaki
Dr. Georgia Drakakaki is a Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, where she has been a key figure in plant biology since 2002. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia/John Innes Center, focusing on cereal nutritional improvement. Her research explores the molecular mechanisms of plant development, particularly cell wall formation and cytokinesis.
Dr. Drakakaki has held various academic roles and has been recognized with several awards, including the Graduate Program Advising and Mentoring Award in 2021 and a Fulbright/Niarchos Diaspora Fellowship. She actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students, enhancing their academic and professional development. An engaged educator, she teaches courses like Plant Cell Wall and Plant Metabolic Processes Laboratory. Dr. Drakakaki has also contributed to the international plant biology community by organizing the inaugural International Plant Cell Biology conference in 2022. A prolific researcher, she has published extensively in leading journals and serves as a reviewer for various funding agencies. Dr. Drakakaki is a member of several professional societies, where she continues to influence the future of plant sciences through her research, teaching, and outreach efforts.
Outside of academia, she is passionate about community engagement and nurturing the next generation of scientists.
Prof. Dr. Louise Ferguson
Dr. Louise Ferguson is a Distinguished Professor of Extension in the Department of Plant Sciences at University of California Davis. Her cooperative research with colleagues identified and characterized the UCBI rootstock, developed mechanical pruning for mature pistachio, determined the salinity tolerance of the current commercial pistachio rootstocks. Her current research is focused on salinity management and the effects of boron on pistachio yield and quality. She co-edited the University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Pistachio Production Manual (Publication Number: 3545: 2016) and initiated the University of California Advances in Pistachio Production Short Course, now in its 10th iteration. She has served as the President of the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America (1989-1990) and President and Chair of the Board of the American Society of Horticulture (2020-2022). She has visited the pistachio industries of Iran, Turkey, Australia, Greece, Sicily, South Africa, Tunisia, Spain, Armenia, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. She wrote the plan for developing a commercial pistachio industry in Afghanistan.
Dr. Hossein Hokmabadi
Dr. Hossein Hokmabadi is an esteemed horticulturist holding a B.S., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Horticultural Science from the University of Tarbiat Modarress in Tehran, Iran. He is currently a member of the scientific board of Iran’s Pistachio Research Institute (IPRI) and has served as an expert in the Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture.
Dr. Hokmabadi has made significant contributions to pistachio research, including the design and operation of the IPRI website and the first pistachio website in Iran. He is an active member of national and international horticultural societies and serves on the editorial board of Keshvarz Javan online magazine.
His research focuses on the effects of salinity and environmental stress on pistachio quality and growth. He has published extensively in scientific journals and teaches courses in post-harvest physiology and plant physiology.
Mr. Bob Klein
Bob Klein was the Manager of the Administrative Committee for Pistachios and the California Pistachio Research Board since their inceptions in 2004 and 2007 respectively. Prior to that, he was the Production Research Director for the California Pistachio Commission from 1999 to 2007. He retired in April 2024 after nearly 25 years in the pistachio industry. Bob came to the pistachio industry from Washington State University where he was an Assistant Plant Pathologist from 1990 to 1999, working on diseases of hop and mint. He received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 1984. He worked with specialty crops for his career and especially values the close ties he developed with growers.
Prof. Dr. Bruce Douglas Lampinen
EDUCATION
University of California at Davis, B.Sc. in Nutrition Science/Biology (1977)
University of California at Davis, M.Sc. in Plant Ecology (1981)
University of California at Davis, Ph.D. in Plant Biology (1998)
University of California at Davis, Post-Doc. in Pomology (1999)
EMPLOYMENT
I have been a Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Plant Sciences Department at the University of California at Davis since July 2000. Previous to that I was the Cranberry Environmental Physiologist at the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station from 1999-2000.In my position as a Professor of Cooperative Extension and Cooperative Extension (CE) Specialist (100%) in the Plant Sciences Department, I have responsibilities for applied research (40%), extension teaching (40%), university and public service (15%) and professional competence and activity (5%). I have developed a nationally and internationally recognized research and extension program integrating new technologies (ie. mobile platform light bar) to quantify orchard productivity, improve food safety, increase water use efficiency, and increase economic returns. This work resulted in the development of digital technologies (iPhone apps) that are being utilized by growers and land managers worldwide and have provided the framework to evaluate various orchard management strategies. Applied Research- During this review period, we have made substantial progress in changing the way nut orchard crops are managed.
This includes:
• Developed and utilized a mobile platform light bar to measure canopy light interception in orchard systems
• Improved understanding the relationships between orchard light interception and food safety risk in almond and walnut
• Developed an iPhone app for estimating canopy light interception and productivity using orchard floor shadows
• Developed training systems for walnut and pistachio requiring less manipulation while increasing water use efficiency and productivity
•Improved understanding of spur dynamics in almond orchards
• Developed data on root growth dynamics in walnut and almond as related to irrigation and pruning management
• Collaborated on research on impacts of whole orchard recycling on canopy growth and productivity in almond
• Evaluated new almond, pistachio and walnut varieties and rootstocks
• Provided ground truth data for remotely-sensed image analyses
Honors
Awarded the University of California Cooperative Extension Presidential Chair for Tree Nut Soil Sciences and Plant Water Relations, a $1 million endowment funded by the California Pistachio Research Board and the Office of the President.
Professional Activities
Reviewer for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
Publications
• Reviewer for HortScience
• Reviewer for Annals of Botany
• Reviewer for AoB Plant
• Review for Plant Science
Mr. Richard N. Matoian
Richard Matoian has been employed in the California Agricultural industry his entire career. He served as President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, President of California Fig Advisory Board and from 2008 to 2023 served as President of American Pistachio Growers (APG), a trade association representing pistachio member growers and member processors from the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.
APG represents members on legislative and regulatory issues and conducts pistachio nutrition research and domestic and international marketing and PR activities. He has managed budgets over $18 million per year, overseen a staff of 14, plus a number of vendors and consultants in the United States and in many foreign countries.
Matoian also farms fresh table grapes and pistachios in a partnership with his brother. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from California State University, Fresno in 1984. He also has a Pest Control Advisors License.
Mr. Panos Menexopoulos
Mr. Menexopoulos holds a degree in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since June 1980, he has been the CEO of the company Afoi D. Menexopouloi ABEE - Dryfo, which operates in the trade and processing of nuts, dried fruits, spices, and snacks. Mr. Menexopoulos has significant involvement in various professional organizations, serving as the General Secretary of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Thessaloniki Trade Association. Additionally, he is the Vice President of the Panhellenic Union of Nut Traders and the President of the Association of Nut Traders of Northern Greece. He is also a member of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC).
Prof. Themis J. Michailides
Themis J. Michailides received his M.S. degree in Irrigations and Agric. Engineering from the University of Athens, Greece, and his M.S. and Ph. D. degrees from the University of California –Davis in Plant Pathology. Michailides had postdoctoral appointments at Oregon State University-Mid Columbia Exp. Research and Extension Center and the Plant Pathology at the University of California-Davis. He joined the faculty of the Univ. of California-Berkeley for three years before becoming a faculty member of the Univ. of Calif. Davis where he is currently a professor and plant pathologist located at the Kearney Agric. Research and Extension Center. Michailides is a leading authority in fungal fruit tree pathology and is nationally and internationally recognized for his innovative ecological, epidemiological and disease management studies of devastating diseases of fruit crops such as the brown rot in stone fruit (peach and prune), Botrytis gray mold of kiwifruit and pistachio, fig endosepsis and smut of figs, black heart of pomegranates, Botryosphaeria of pistachio, almond, and walnut, aflatoxin contamination of nut crops (pistachio and almond) and fig, ochratoxin contamination of pistachio, Alternaria rot and anthracnose of citrus and Botryosphaeria canker and anthracnose of avocado. A pioneering contribution of Michailides’ research project was the discovery of resistance mechanisms of Alternaria alternata to strobilurin fungicides and the first in the world identification of the mutations that confer resistance to a carboxamide boscalid. He has been a pioneer in the detection of fungal latent infections (Monilinia spp., Botrytis cinerea, and Botryosphaeria fungi) and the development of practical techniques that are used now commercially by private laboratories to help California growers and growers worldwide to make decisions in disease detection and management. The most recent pioneer accomplishment was the registration of the atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus strain AF36 Prevail® (in 2012) and Afla-Guard® GR (in 2017) in pistachio and almond to reduce aflatoxin contamination. More than 40,000 hectares of pistachio have been treated yearly since 2017 through 2024. He has published 295 refereed articles.
Prof. Dionysios Perdikis
Dionysios Perdikis is Professor of the Laboratory of Agricultural zoology and Entomology of the Agricultural University of Athens. His main research interests are: Integrated Pest Management, biological control of insect pests, functional agro-biodiversity, conservation of natural enemies in agroecosystems, insecticides of natural origin, decision support systems, e-traps, location aware systems in pest control. Dionysios was convenor of the Working Group on the Integrated Management of olive pests and diseases of the World Organization for Integrated and Biological Control (IOBC/WPRS) (2010-2018). He was a member of the Plant Health Panel of the European food Safety Authority (EFSA). He is president of the Hellenic Entomological Society. Member of the editorial board of 5 scientific journals. He was chairman or member of the organizing committee of 6 International and 5 National Congresses and invited speaker at international conferences. He is coordinator of international and national research projects. He is co-author of 114 publications published in peer review international journals, 101 of them in SCI journals.
Emeritus Prof. Eleftherios K. Tzamos
Dr. Eleftherios K. Tzamos is a distinguished graduate of the Agricultural University of Athens (1967) and holds a Ph.D. from the University of London (1974), awarded with a NATO scholarship. He completed his postgraduate studies in plant pathology at Imperial College London (1971-1974) and gained practical experience at the Benaki Phytopathological Institute (1966-67).
From 1970 to 1987, he worked as a researcher at the Benaki Phytopathological Institute and subsequently taught at the Agricultural University of Athens, where he was promoted to full professor in 1994. He is recognized for his contributions to plant pathology, with over 150 publications in international scientific journals and conferences, including "Science," "Phytopathology," and "Plant Disease."
His research focuses on the biological control of plant diseases and the use of soil solarization to combat serious soil-borne pathogens. He has been acknowledged for implementing these methods in Greek agriculture, promoting practices that reduce the use of toxic chemicals.
As president of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Society and a founding member of the Hellenic Phytopathological Society, he has organized significant international conferences and participated in scientific committees. Additionally, he has contributed to the training of young scientists by supervising postgraduate and doctoral theses and writing university textbooks.
His experience and dedication to research and education make him a central figure in the field of plant pathology in Greece.
Associate Prof. Mr. Ilias Travlos
Associate Professor Ilias Travlos holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA). He is the Vice President of the European Weed Research Society (EWRS) for the term 2024-2025 and has previously served as the President of the Hellenic Weed Science Society (EZE) from 2018 to 2021. He is the Director of the Sector of Agonomy, Plant Breeding, Biometrics, and Meteorology in the Department of Crop Science at AUA. He is the author of more than 120 publications in international scientific journals and books.
He serves as an academic editor for various international journals and is a reviewer for numerous articles. He has participated in both national and European projects and has been involved in organizing national and international conferences. He is a coordinator, work package leader, and participant in several Horizon Europe projects of agricultural interest. Additionally, he ranks among the top 2% of authors with the highest impact globally, according to the Stanford University ranking.