Avocado, The

Bruce Schaffer is a Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Florida, Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, Florida, USA. He is internationally recognized for his research on ecophysiology of subtropical and tropical horticultural crops, particularly fruit crops, including avocado. In addition to the seven books and proceedings he has edited, he is author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in over 40 different journals plus more than 160 other publications including book chapters, technical reports, proceedings papers, and abstracts

Nigel Wolstenholme (B.Sc. Agric. cum laude, Horticultural Science, 1960, Ph.D 1967) studied and lectured (1960 - 1998) at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, retiring in 1999. He became Head of the Department of Horticultural Science in 1988. Four year-long sabbaticals, two at Texas A & M University (pecan nut research), and two with co-editor Tony Whiley at Maroochy Horticultural Research Station, Queensland, Australia (avocado research), broadened his horizons. Since the mid - 1970's, research emphasized was the ecology, ecophysiology and horticultural manipulation of subtropical fruit crops for optimization of yield and fruit quality. He supervised or co-supervised 22 completed M.Sc. Agric. and 10 Ph.D candidates. Peer-reviewed scientific papers numbered ca. 60, plus 8 book chapters and 2 book co-editorships, and ca 190 industry-oriented scientific articles of various types. Amongst his prestigeous awards were the Golden Avocado Award (South African Avocado Growers' Association 1998), and Fellow of the University of Natal (1999).

Entomology, pest management

Anthony W Wiley is an Independent Consultant with Sunshine Horticultural Services Pty Ltd in Australia.

Richard Litz is a professor emeritus in the Department of Horticultural Sciences of the University of Florida. From 1976 until his retirement in 2011, he was at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, where he developed and led a research programme that focused on biotechnology of tropical fruit crops, e.g., avocado, carambola, litchi, longan, mango and papaya. His laboratory hosted postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists from 16 countries in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Africa and Asia. He has edited seven books about biotechnology of fruit crops and also about mango and has authored more than 150 refereed publications and book chapters. In retirement, Richard lives in a village on the coast of Maine.