Part IVLeadership
Leading research. Supporting discovery.
A research center director’s work is largely enabling the work of others: recruiting and supporting faculty and staff, building facilities, and connecting research with the people it serves.
Dr. Rechcigl became associate director of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in 2000 and its director in 2001, leading the center into its new facility in Balm. He established the Florida Agricultural Expo, and in 2020 also took on leadership of the Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. UF/IFAS currently lists him as Center Director and Professor at both centers.
The research and extension programs described on the centers’ own websites are carried out by their faculty, staff, and students. This personal website is not an official UF/IFAS site.
“My role as Center Director is to support and mentor the award-winning scientists, faculty and graduate students who are dedicated to solving the local and regional agricultural, urban and wildlife issues that comprise southeast Florida's unique make-up, while continuing the mission of FLREC.”
Current appointment
UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center
Center Director and Professor of Soil and Water Science
Official center website (gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu) ↗Current appointment
UF/IFAS Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center
Center Director and Professor of Soil and Water Science
Official center website (flrec.ifas.ufl.edu) ↗
Connecting growers and science
The Florida Agricultural Expo
Dr. Rechcigl established the Florida Agricultural Expo in 2006, a year after the new Gulf Coast Research and Education Center opened at Balm. The idea came from growers Jay Taylor and Tony DiMare; the first Expo, on December 8–9, 2006, drew more than 800 people and over 60 exhibitors. Held each November at the center in Wimauma and now organized by AgNet Media and UF/IFAS, the one-day event brings growers, industry, elected officials and researchers together for presentations on vegetable and specialty crops, field tours of current research, and time with vendors.
In 2025 the Expo made way for two milestones: the center's 100th-anniversary celebration and the groundbreaking for the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture. About 900 growers, current and retired faculty, lawmakers and industry stakeholders attended, with Dr. Rechcigl as master of ceremonies. Today the center is home to more than 240 researchers, staff and graduate students.
“I think the big part of the Expo that makes it successful and what people really enjoy about it is actually the networking. They are getting together … talking about issues they're facing, solutions and being able to see the vendors one-on-one.”
- Organized by
- AgNet MediaUF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center
- In partnership with
- Florida Fruit & Vegetable AssociationFlorida Fertilizer & Agrichemical AssociationFlorida Strawberry Growers Association
Applied innovation
The next frontier in agriculture
Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture
UF/IFAS is building a 40,000-square-foot hub for applied artificial intelligence at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, led by Center Director Jack Rechcigl and associate director Nathan Boyd. AI scientists there will work with researchers across UF/IFAS and with industry to breed plants that resist pests and disease, help growers use fewer chemicals, and design and build robotic technologies in a dedicated research shop. Dr. Rechcigl estimates the center will directly employ about 100 people. After five years of planning, ground was broken on November 7, 2025, during the Gulf Coast REC's 100th-anniversary celebration.
“The survival of our agricultural industries, like fruit and vegetable production, depends on the development of new technologies utilizing AI to help our growers be competitive in a global environment.”
