The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is uniting faculty and staff from Environmental Horticulture with Horticultural Sciences Department, strengthening collaboration across teaching, research, and Extension while broadening the department’s scope and impact.
The transition reflects an effort to align plant science expertise in ways that better support students and faculty, as well as the research and Extension efforts that serve growers and stakeholders across Florida.
The Horticultural Sciences Department is now home to almost 140 faculty members, including core, affiliate, courtesy, and emeritus appointments, based on the UF main campus in Gainesville and at research and education centers across Florida. As part of this transition, some faculty and staff are also moving into closely aligned units such as Agronomy and Forestry, reflecting the shared foundations across plant sciences and long-standing collaboration among these programs.
Dr. Christopher Gunter, professor and chair of the UF/IFAS Department of Horticultural Sciences, believes “bringing these faculty members together, gives us a collaborative opportunity to solve industry problems with shared purpose. As the largest horticultural sciences program in the country, these innovators are well armed to solve wicked problems that require multiple perspectives and innovative thinking.”
The faculty represent expertise across fruit, vegetable, and ornamental crops; controlled environment agriculture; urban and native plant systems; postharvest biology; molecular and synthetic biology; and sustainable and organic production. This expansion supports new interdisciplinary research efforts, strengthens competitiveness for external funding, and creates more pathways for students to engage with the full spectrum of horticultural science, preparing them for innovation-driven careers across industry and the broader workforce.
The expansion also deepens UF/IFAS’s engagement with growers and industry stakeholders across Florida. A more connected horticultural sciences community enables integrated, science-based solutions that address production challenges, environmental resilience, and community needs. By bringing together complementary expertise across systems and scales, UF/IFAS is reinforcing its long-standing commitment to translating plant science into real-world impact.
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