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Randy Ploetz was born in North Carolina, but spent most of his early years in Wisconsin. He received a B.S. in forest tree production in 1974 and M.S. in plant pathology in 1976, both from Purdue University, and in 1984 received his Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Florida. Since 1986, he has been a research plant pathologist at the University of Florida’s Tropical Research & Education Center in Homestead where his primary responsibilities are on diseases of fruit and vegetable crops. He has written extensively on diseases of avocado, banana, mango and other tropical fruit crops. He currently serves as a senior editor of APS Press, board member of OEC and OIP, and on the editorial board of a new on-line journal that is being developed by APS, Plant Health.

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