October 2021 - 18

DOCTORAL duets
BY PETER KONJOIAN AND KAYLEE SOUTH
A Ph.D. Program Seeded in High School
and Shaped to Serve Horticulture
day pursue a career path that allows me to
work with undergraduate and/or graduate
students as they grow in their passions and
future careers.
One of my undergraduate advisors,
Peter Konjoian is president of Konjoian's Horticulture
Education Services Inc. His career spans four decades as a
commercial grower, researcher and consultant. Kaylee South is
a postdoctoral student at Ohio State University. Konjoian can
be reached at peterkfes@comcast.net.
J
oining me today is Kaylee South. In
August of 2020 Kaylee completed
her graduate studies at Ohio State
University under the guidance of Michelle
Jones. She is continuing her research
with Jones as a postdoc and pursuing
her career's next step. Kaylee grew up
in Carnesville, Georgia, and found her
interest in the greenhouse industry through
her middle and high schools' agriculture
education program and National FFA
Organization. She majored in Horticulture
at the University of Georgia and earned her
bachelor of science in Agriculture in 2015.
During her time at UGA, she completed
an American Floral Endowment Vic and
Margaret Ball Internship at Sun Valley
Floral Farms in Arcata, California.
Peter: Kaylee, thank you for taking
time today. Let's start with a great big
congratulations ... Dr. South! Welcome to
the ranks. What career path is of interest to
you as graduate school comes to an end?
Which way are you leaning regarding an
academic or industry position?
Kaylee: Thank you! And thank you for
having me today. It is an honor to get to
talk with you. For my career path, I am
leaning toward an academic position. During
my time at UGA, the horticulture faculty
made my college education and experience
exceptional, full of passing on knowledge,
hands-on experience and adventures. It
had a huge impact on me, and I want to one
18 OCTOBER 2021 GPNMAG.COM
Paul Thomas, shared with me the
opportunities of seeking a graduate
education and becoming a university
professor. As I completed my graduate
program at OSU with him, I learned the
important role research plays in the
greenhouse industry. I want to continue
on the path of conducting research in the
university system that will serve growers
in the horticulture industry. I also had
the opportunity to teach during my Ph.D.
program, which confirmed my interest
in a position that includes a teaching or
outreach appointment.
Peter: The impact undergraduate
advisors have on young minds is wonderful,
isn't it? Many of us share similar stories of
how advisors steered us in career shaping
directions. Those experiences fuel us to
flip the coin and guide our own student
advisees along their career paths. Pay it
forward, right?
Kaylee: This is very true, Peter, and I was
fortunate to not only have great advisors
during my time at UGA and now at OSU but
to also have been guided during my high
school career by my agriculture education
advisors. I look back and see the many
people that had a hand in providing me
opportunities from high school through
graduate school and that fuels me to
pass on these opportunities. Did you have
advisors or mentors that helped you in your
career trajectory?
Peter: I certainly did, Kaylee, thanks for
asking. I, too, go back to high school for my
first one, my sophomore AP math teacher.
One day in class he sat on the front of his
desk and asked us, what is the definition
of education? A couple of my classmates
offered up versions of knowing answers to
questions. He put his hand up to stop this
line of reasoning and said, simply, education
isn't knowing all the answers, it's learning
where to find them. He changed my life at
that moment as I became confident as an
introvert hearing that I didn't have to raise
my hand all the time knowing answers but
did need to learn where to find them.
Fast forward to my graduate work at
Ohio State, it was my doctoral advisor
George Staby who added another floor
to my education structure by asking us
the same question. His answer was even
more enlightening for me, his definition of
education is not knowing all the answers
but learning how to ask the right questions.
The two teachers that impacted me the
most taught me things that had little to
do with the subjects they taught: math in
high school, horticulture in grad school.
I'm certain every reader of this article has
similar life lesson moments to share.
The combination of research and
teaching is going to be exciting for you. Tell
us about your Ph.D. program and research,
I understand you focused on stress
tolerance of greenhouse crops.
Kaylee: The focus of my Ph.D. research
was on improving stress tolerance in
greenhouse floriculture crops with a
majority of my time focusing on the use
of beneficial bacteria to improve crop
performance. My first research topic in
this area was investigating a collection
of beneficial bacteria for their ability to
reduce gray mold caused by Botrytis
cinerea. Botrytis has become resistant to
several fungicides, and additional tools
are needed for its management. I did both
in-lab studies and greenhouse studies with
petunia (shown in photo) to select bacteria
that reduced disease severity. From these
studies, bacteria were identified as potential
biological control agents of Botrytis in
floriculture crops.
Peter: For our readers' benefit, Kaylee, as
we identify naturally occurring organisms
that have commercial benefits to greenhouse
crops can we assume that their " natural "
characteristic also qualifies them for use
on food crops? Am I correct in assuming
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