Gary Gao, Ph.D., Extension Specialist and Associate Professor, OSU South Centers
Gary Gao shared his research and extension expertise on fruit production in 2016 with researchers, extension professionals, farmers, and college students in Gansu, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces in China. He gave four lectures to graduate students and faculty members at Shanxi Agricultural University (http://www.sxau.edu.cn/) and Hexi University (http://www10.hxu.edu.cn/w/Default.htm). In addition, he visited more than 10 farms and gave three presentations to farmers.
Gary Gao taught a daylong session on English writing to a master’s level class at Shanxi Agricultural University. He also conducted joint research with several faculty members there. He and his collaborators at Shanxi Agricultural University had one paper accepted in 2016 by the Journal of Forestry Research for publication in 2017.
Gary Gao hosted Dr. Dong Qin, an associate professor of fruit crops from Northeast China Agricultural University (http://www.neau.edu.cn/). Dr. Qin conducted joint research projects, demonstrated fruit production techniques, and visited growers in Ohio. Drs. Qin and Gao had two journal articles accepted in 2016 for publication in 2017.
Collaborative research and Extension work has been immensely beneficial to Gary’s research projects and extension programs in Ohio. For example, his invited trip to Gansu Province helped directly with his Super Fruits Project with Ohio Department of Agriculture and USDA, since he received first-hand knowledge on how Chinese goji berries are produced. He also applied for and received a training grant with Beau Ingle to host a team of Chinese visitors as a part of the Scientific Cooperation Exchange program between USDA and Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.