Patricia Rorabaugh

Patricia Rorabaugh is retired as of July 1, 2016. She received a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences at Utah State University. She also has a Master's degree in Plant Physiology from San Diego State University and a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Here at the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) she does extension work and teaches two classes: PLS 217: Introduction to Controlled Environment Agriculture and Hydroponics and PLS 394: Advanced Hydroponic Crop Production Her research interest is hydroponics & controlled environment agriculture. Every year, in conjunction with the classes listed above, the students participate in an experiment relevant to the industry. Experiments have included root media trials, tomato variety trials and comparisons of grafted versus non-grafted beef tomatoes. As part of her extension/outreach work for the CEAC, she is the coordinator for the CEAC Volunteer Group, which meets as a group once a month and also maintains a greenhouse with demonstration hydroponic units suitable for home or school use. She is on the committee that organizes and puts on the annual Spring CEAC Short Course and also participates in the short course (presentations & workshops) and she created, organizes and teaches the annual Winter Intensive Tomato Training Course. She also provides tours and in-person, phone and/or email consultations to anyone with questions about hydroponics and/or controlled environment agriculture.