Bob Kemerait
2020 D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Global Programs
Robert Kemerait
Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Plant Pathology
Robert C. Kemerait Jr. is a professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia Tifton campus. He joined the faculty in 2000 on a 100% Extension appointment to study disease and nematode management in cotton, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and sugarcane. Kemerait’s work focuses on developing disease and nematode management strategies that integrate host resistance, cultural practices, and the use of fungicides and nematicides to protect agronomic crops and grower profits. He helped lead the development of Peanut Rx, an online calculator that helps Southeastern peanut growers assess risks in the field. He is actively engaged in the development of site-specific applications of nematicides in cotton and is recognized for his efforts to control target spot in cotton, southern corn rust, Asian soybean rust, and aflatoxin. In addition to Extension efforts in Georgia and the Southern U.S., Kemerait has been a leader in USAID-funded projects to improve peanut production among small-scale farmers in Guyana, Haiti, and the Philippines. He recently received a Fulbright award to work with the faculty at Mariano Marcos State University and farmers in the northern Philippines to improve disease management and other production practices. He is active in the American Phytopathological Society, serving on the Office of International Programs; he's on the Board of Directors of the Philippine Phytopathological Society; and he is a Fellow in the American Peanut Research and Education Society. Kemerait has received the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension, the Dow AgroSciences Award for Excellence in Education from the American Peanut Research and Education Society, the Peanut Research and Education Award from the American Peanut Council, and the Walter B. Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service and Outreach.