Paul R. Anamosa, Ph.D., is a soil scientist and viticulturist with decades of experience in vineyard evaluation and design. He founded Vineyard Soil Technologies, a California-based viticultural consulting company, specializing in soil analysis and land evaluation for winegrape production. Since entering the wine industry, he has evaluated over 25,000 soil pits and interpreted more than 10,000 grape leaf tissue samples. Anamosa holds advanced degrees in soil chemistry, soil fertility management and viticulture, and is recognized for his expertise in optimizing grapevine performance.
Christopher Chen, Ph.D., is the University of California Cooperative Extension integrated vineyard systems advisor for the North Coast region of California. His work focuses on climate-adaptive viticulture practices to help address the concerns related to climate change in vineyards and brings actionable research to the grape growing communities of Northern California. Chris received his doctorate from UC Davis, focusing on climate centric research in grapevines. He will be a keynote speaker at the 2025 Sustainable Ag Expo, where he'll highlight climate adaptive viticulture. His work on best practices for pest and disease prevention in winegrape vineyards will be published in the Wine Business Monthly along with a forthcoming article on smoke risk to vineyards from prescribed California burns in Grape & Wine Magazine.
Karl Lund, Ph.D., is the University of California Cooperative Extension viticulture advisor for Madera, Merced and Mariposa counties. In addition to helping grape growers and vineyard managers with day-to-day issues, he has two main research focuses: researching rootstock adaptation to current and future issues within the San Joaquin Valley and looking at the adaptation of mechanical vineyard management practices to San Joaquin Valley viticulture. Lund completed his doctorate at UC Davis focusing on phylloxera biodiversity and resistance breeding.
George Zhuang, M.S., is the University of California Cooperative Extension viticulture advisor for Fresno County. His research activities include vineyard mechanization, irrigation management, variety and rootstock evaluation, grapevine disease management and bringing research to growers’ practices. Zhuang received his master from Michigan State University and is currently pursuing his doctorate from UC Riverside, focusing on grapevine fungal disease management. Hear from Zhuang on how early decisions in the field shape fermentation and wine quality.