FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Lorenzo Rossi’s role with the American Society for Horticultural Science will begin to increase. Recently selected for the organization’s Leadership Academy, Rossi will commence training to support agricultural production on a global scale.
Rossi, an assistant professor at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Indian River and Research and Education Center (IRREC) in Fort Pierce, leads a team of 15 associates who perform groundbreaking research to support high-value crops.
“Dr. Lorenzo Rossi’s selection for the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) is appropriately outstanding,” said Ronald D. Cave, Rossi’s supervisor and director of the Indian River Research and Education Center. “Dr. Rossi’s research program is robust, confronts current research problems, and his aim is to meet agricultural growers’ needs. Dr. Rossi is clearly showing good leadership skills in his young career at UF.”
Cave said Rossi’s appointment to the ASHS Leadership Academy is due to Rossi’s rapid advancement from an early career professor to a mid-career educator and targeted researcher with demonstrated achievements. Many of Rossi’s peers would point to the success of his students.
When Does Training Begin?
Rossi will begin his training with the American Society for Horticultural Science Leadership Academy in July at the ASHS conference in Orlando, Florida. According to the ASHS website, the Leadership Academy is a specialized program to grow skills for professors and industry professionals to advance the organization’s mission through higher education, funding appropriations, and legislature. Rossi was selected for the training program by educators and industry applicants nationwide in a highly competitive process.
In his visions for the global horticultural industry, Rossi sees opportunities to uplift producers, students and the nation’s economy with the improvement of sustainable horticultural practices through better management of plant root health.
To achieve this goal, Rossi underscores his vision with strategies he would develop and refine with the ASHS leadership academy. Those strategies comprise improved soil management for horticultural crops, the employment of high technology in production operations, and targeted support for legislative and trade issues that impact the American horticultural thrust.
“We must realize that American horticulture can be great and that we must compete with growers in Central and South America,” said Rossi. “Funding is needed for horticultural research because high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables are in demand, and we need to prioritize competitiveness.”