Rate My Professor Robert Trigiano

Robert Trigiano serves as Chancellor's Professor and Institute Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology within the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture at Knoxville, with expertise in Agricultural and Veterinary Science. His research focuses on genomics, population genetics, propagation of endangered plants, diseases of ornamental plants, and molecular marker systems for plants and pathogens. Trigiano earned his master’s degree in biology from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. in plant pathology and botany from North Carolina State University. Before entering academia, he served as an associate research agronomist for Green Giant Co., specializing in mushroom culture and plant pathology, and worked as a mushroom grower in Ontario, Canada. He joined the University of Tennessee in 1984 as a postdoctoral researcher under the late Bob Conger, joined the faculty in the Department of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design in 1987, and moved to the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in 2001.

Trigiano has an extensive publication record, including over 225 research articles and book chapters as well as 10 edited or authored books, such as Plant Tissue Culture Concepts and Laboratory Exercises (Routledge, 2018), Plant Pathology Concepts and Laboratory Exercises (CRC Press, 2016), Plant Tissue Culture, Development, and Biotechnology (CRC Press, 2016), and Plant Development and Biotechnology (CRC Press, 2004). Key papers include 'An heuristic framework for identifying multiple ways of supporting the conservation and use of traditional crop varieties within the agricultural production system' (Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 2011) and 'Quantitative trait loci for agronomic and seed quality traits in an F2 and F4:6 soybean population' (Euphytica, 2003). He holds 12 patents from 68 disclosures. In 2005, Trigiano co-founded Creative Agricultural Technologies, LLC, to market University of Tennessee-developed ornamental plants, including disease-resistant dogwood cultivars such as Appalachian Spring (dogwood anthracnose-resistant), Jean’s Appalachian Snow, Erica’s Appalachian Sunrise, and Rebecca’s Appalachian Angel (powdery mildew-resistant). He has been Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences since 2003, serves as Associate Director of the Weed Diagnostic Center, and has taught scientific writing courses at the University of Tennessee and for universities and societies on five continents.