Rock Christiano was raised on a small orange orchard farm and his passion for horticulture has inspired his education. He received an Agronomy B.S degree in 2001, a Plant Pathology M.S. degree in 2004, and a Plant Pathology Ph.D degree in 2006, all from major universities in Brazil. He has studied epidemiology of citrus canker on different species and varieties of citrus and he has collaborated with many citrus research centers, such as FUNDECITRUS, a major citrus research station in the Sao Paulo State, Brazil. In the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, USA, Christiano has worked for 6 years with peach and blueberry diseases. On August 13th, Christiano will join the staff at the Lindcove Research and Extension Center as a Staff Research Associate.  He will be managing the research and budwood foundation activities for the Citrus Clonal Protection Program at LREC. He is eager to begin and to return to his work with citriculture.