Tricia Jenkins

Postdoctoral Student

 

Contact Info

tmjenkin@k-state.edu

 

Tricia Jenkins, Ph.D., grew up right here in Olathe, Kansas. She completed her bachelor's degree in natural resource management and organic agriculture at Colorado State University and then returned home to pursue a graduate degree at K-State Olathe.

After completing her undergraduate degree, she had a strong interest in working with food crops and improving local food markets, so she was very excited to join the Urban Food Systems team in the postharvest and handling lab.

Tricia is currently a postdoc under Eleni Pliakoni, Ph.D., after successfully defending her thesis, "Maximizing quality in grafted tomato production systems." For her thesis she studied the effect grafting has on the yield, quality and nutritional content of Tasti-Lee tomatoes grown in a high tunnel system. Tasti-Lee is a popular vine-ripened tomato variety that is bred to have higher lycopene content, making them more nutritionally dense than other store-purchased tomatoes.

In her free time, Tricia loves to cook, bake and enjoy time outdoors.