People

Tara Watkins

Tara Watkins

Professional Profile

Tara Watkins joined the UK Extension team as a Nursery Crops Extension Associate in January 2022. Tara’s areas of expertise include ornamental horticulture, plant pathology diagnostics and disease management, as well as the development of educational programming for both growers and the public. A native to the Commonwealth, Tara attended Western Kentucky University where she received dual B.S. degrees in Biochemistry and Agriculture (emphasis in Plant and Soil Sciences). Next, she attended Michigan State University where she earned her M.S. degree in Plant Pathology in December 2021. Tara is excited to get to know and serve those involved in the nursery crop industry of the great Bluegrass State!

Education

M.S. Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, 2021

B.S. Agriculture, Western Kentucky University, 2017

B.S.  Biochemistry, Western Kentucky University, 2017

Winston Dunwell

Winston Dunwell

Professional Profile

Dr. Winston Dunwell is an Extension Professor for Nursery Crops. He is located at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton, KY. His Extension Program focuses on nursery crop production and development of ornamental plants.

Dr. Winston Dunwell was born on Long Island in Southampton, NY. He grew up in East Quogue, NY where farming consisted of horticultural crops. His neighbors grew either nursery crops or vegetables. Dr. Dunwell worked in the nursery/landscape industry throughout his teenage years and part time through his military service and college education. He attended the State University of New York at Farmingdale and received his Associates Degree in Nursery Management. Following 4 years in the US Air Force he attended the University of Wyoming and received his Bachelors of Science in Plant Science/Horticulture. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Idaho where he worked on the effects of cold stress on Ornamental Plants.

In 1979 Dr. Dunwell accepted a position with The University of Kentucky as an Assistant Extension Professor for Nursery Crops housed at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center at Princeton, Kentucky. His area of interest is developing educational programs related to sustainable ornamental plant introduction, propagation, production, and utilization. Dr. Dunwell established the Nursery Crops Development Center to carry out trials on cultivated and native plants with unique characteristics of special interest to the nursery/landscape industry and the gardening public.

Education

Ph.D. in Horticulture/Plant Stress Physiology, 1978, University of Idaho
B.S. Plant Science Horticulture, 1974, University of Wyoming

Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson

Professional Profile

I provide insect expertise for people dealing with issues in urban landscapes, turfgrasses, nursery crops, greenhouses, and households. As an extension professional I aim to link end users to the research-based information we generate through applied research on campus. To this end I connect with growers, practitioners, county extension agents, and just everyday people with a variety of platforms including traditional teaching but also through podcasts, social media, and tv, print media, and radio. 

Zenaida Viloria

Zenaida Viloria

  • zenaida.viloria@uky.edu
  • Nursery Crops Development Center
    1205 Hopkinsville Street
    Princeton KY 42445-0469

  • UK Research & Education Center

Professional Profile

Dr. Viloria is a horticulturist working in entomology at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton, KY since February 2016. She is the resident expert in bark beetle indentification and in charge of monitoring Ambrosia beetles and research to find a better means of control in  nurseries and orchards in western Kentucky. 

Education

Ph.D. in Horticulture, 2003. University of Florida.

Agricultural Engineer. 1984. University of Zulia, Venezuela. 

Robert Geneve

Robert Geneve

Professional Profile

Our research program has two major activities – plant propagation and nursery crop production. The propagation area has most recently been focused on seed biology. The major effort concerns the physiological and ecological aspects of physical dormancy including the elucidation of the water gap mechanisms that control water uptake in physically dormant seeds. The second research area investigates the comparative morphological and ecological aspects of mucilage producing seeds in the Lamiaceae. Our main nursery crop project is a multi-state collaborative effort in sustainable nursery production. This project focuses on producing container-grown nursery crops with reduced inputs. These include water use and alternatives to standard plastic nursery containers.

Education

Ph.D.Horticulture, 1985, University of Minnesota
M.S. Horticulture, 1978, Pennsylvania State University
B.S. Horticulture, 1977, University of Maryland

Nicole Ward-Gauthier

Nicole Ward-Gauthier

Professional Profile

Implement Extension educational programming and conduct applied research on:

  • Fruit crop diseases
  • Landscape plant diseases
  • Nursery and greenhouse crop diseases
  • Urban horticulture plant diseases

Coordinate Extension Plant Pathology programs

Education

Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, 2011, Louisiana State University
B.S. in Horticulture Science, 2007, Louisiana State University