Horticultural Sciences

Mailing Address:
Fifield Hall
2550 Hull Road
PO Box 110690
Gainesville, Florida 32611

Office: 1217 Fifield Hall
Phone: (352) 273-4778
Fax : (352) 392-5653
E-mail: jkbrecht@ufl.edu

• Areas of Research
  • Postharvest Physiology
• Teaching Responsibilities
  • HOS 5085 (Principles of Postharvest Horticulture)
• Educational Background
  • Ph.D., University of California, Davis, CA (1984)
  • B.S., Whittier College, Whittier, CA (1979)
• Extension Program
  • Demonstrating the effects of postharvest procedures on maintenance of product quality
  • Extension of postharvest information through presentations at extension and industry meetings
• Work Experience
  • University of Florida Research Foundation Professor, Postharvest Physiology and Horticulture, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida (2002-05 and 2008-11)
  • Professor, Postharvest Physiology and Horticulture, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida (1995 to present)
  • Associate Professor, Postharvest Physiology and Horticulture, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida (1989 to 1995)
  • Assistant Professor, Postharvest Physiology and Horticulture, Vegetable Crops Department, University of Florida (1984 to 1989)
• International Experience
  • National Mango Board – August 2013-May 2017. Managing a multi-institution, multi-country project to determine the cause of the fruit disorder, corte negro, in collaboration with the mango exporters associations, FME (Ecuador) and APEM (Peru).
  • USAID Hort CRSP – July 2013-August 2014. Developing postharvest outreach and education materials for fruit & vegetable producers in Central America that target audiences at different levels of knowledge from subsistence to commercial producers and college students.
  • National Mango Board Outreach Programs in Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, and Peru; 2011-16.
  • National Mango Board – October 2007-April 2009. Managed a multi-institution, multi-country project to evaluate the mango distribution system from the producing countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru) to the U.S. retail level, in collaboration with colleagues from University of California, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico.
  • Instructor in International Workshops and Short Courses: Spain, Italy and Greece, 2005; Italy, 2007; Spain, 2008; Spain, 2009; Columbia, 2010; Spain, 2011; Spain and Germany, 2012
  • USAID IDEA – October 2005. Evaluating production, harvesting, handling and processing of loroco in El Salvador. 
  • USDA-FAS Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program  - hosted and subsequently mentored over the next 2 years a young scientist from Ghana, 2004-2006
  • USAID AERI Institutional Capacity Building activities – Jan. and Sept.-Oct. 2004; Sept. 2005. Working with Faculties of Agriculture at six universities in Upper Egypt to reform and strengthen their curricula and teaching methods to better prepare graduates for careers; reviewing and overseeing horticulture grant projects.
• Honors and Awards
  • Honorary Member of the Florida State Horticultural Society, 2014
  • University of Florida Research Foundation Professor, 2008 (previously named in 2002)
  • Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 2006.
  • Outstanding Extension Materials Award, Video Category, ASHS, 2006, for "Worker Health and Hygiene Training Manual for Florida Produce Industry."
• Program Personnel
  • Dr. Carolina Abrahan, Senior Biologist
  • Yurui Xie, Research Associate
  • Zilfina Rubio, Ph.D. Graduate Student
  • Craig Frey, Doctor of Plant Medicine Graduate Student
  • Faisal Shahzad, Ph.D. Graduate Student
  • Lan-yen Chang, Ph.D. Graduate Student
  • Tian Gong, Ph.D. Graduate Student