Jeffrey K. Brecht is a consulting associate for P.E.B. Commodities, Inc. an international service company that specializes in consultation, forensics, handling and transporting perishable commodities.

Dr. Brecht has been a member of the faculty of the College of Agriculture at the University of Florida since 1984, beginning in the Vegetable Crops Department, until the time of its merger with the Fruit Crops Department in 1992 to form the Horticultural Sciences Department, where he has since been located. He has been a Full Professor since 1995.

At the University of Florida, Dr. Brecht has annually taught a class in Postharvest Horticulture that covers all aspects of harvesting, handling, and postharvest physiology of fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops, and he has supervised 23 graduate students in their thesis research. Dr. Brecht has published over 65 papers in peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as over 200 papers in nonrefereed and trade publications. His publications have been honored with awards from the Florida State Horticultural Society, the American Society for Horticultural Science, and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. He is currently an Associate Editor of the journals HortScience and Postharvest Biology and Technology, and Editor of the Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society. In addition, he is one of two Extension Specialists in the state of Florida responsible for vegetable crops and fruit crops other than citrus fruits. Dr. Brecht has also been extensively involved in international agriculture while at the University of Florida, having been involved in projects or having conducted short courses and seminars on various aspects of postharvest handling and physiology in Africa, Asia, Central America, and Europe.

Dr. Brecht has been working with the PEB Commodities team since 1996. Because of his academic activities and contacts within the postharvest research community, he is able to contribute expertise on the latest knowledge regarding the physiology and handling of horticultural crops. His extension and international activities also give him extensive knowledge of handling practices for most fruits and vegetables worldwide.

He received his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from University of California, Davis, with emphasis in postharvest physiology of horticultural crops, especially as related to fruit ripening and ethylene metabolism. Over the last 18 years, he has taught, carried on extension activities, and conducted research at the University of Florida on the postharvest physiology and handling of numerous fruit and vegetable crops, and is knowledgeable in all aspects of the field from commercial handling practices to basic science.