Rachel Leisso

Horticulture Specialist

Rachel is a former assistant professor for Montana State University Western Agricultural Research Center (MSU-WARC); she recently moved to the Puget Sound area in Washington state. Her horticulture research in Montana involved characterizing haskap and other small fruit cultivar-specific attributes including pre-harvest in-field drop rates, resilience to mechanical damage, and ripening evenness, as well as researching fruit postharvest considerations including shelf-life and physiology, and collaborating to assess consumer acceptance of novel fruits.