In addition to his role as Senior Scientist at Grafted Growers, Ricardo is also a Faculty member at NC State University researching  plant production under protected environments (greenhouses, vertical farms). 

Growing up in a border city in northern México, Ricardo had no exposure to agriculture, not even gardening.  As a child, he remembers being extremely curious about horticultural production, which is not exactly a common curiosity for children these days. He decided to follow his passion and pursue a degree in Agricultural Sciences. This required immigrating to the US, learning a new language, and figuring out how to pay for his education and living expenses all on his own.  His growing passion for this field despite the obstacles made him realize that the innate instinct of growing plants ran deep inside of him. After receiving a bachelors degree in Agronomy from New Mexico State University and a master degree in Entomology from Texas A&M , he decided to pursue a Ph.D. program at the University of Arizona at the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. He is a true plant production enthusiast and strives to seek new and novel ways to naturally and sustainably improve the quality of plants to help growers and farmers deliver the best fruits and vegetables to families across the world.