Prof. Fuxiang Cao is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Horticulture at Hunan Agricultural University. He concurrently serves as the President of the Economic Forest Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry, the Vice President of the Tree Physiology and Biochemistry Society of the Chinese Society of Forestry, the Ancient and Famous Tree Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry, and the Hunan Botanical Society. He received his PhD from Hunan Agricultural University (2001). His teaching disciplines include Garden Dendrology and Progress in Research on Ornamental Plants. He has been engaged in teaching and scientific research in botany, biochemistry, and molecular biology for many years. He has made great progress in the creation and utilization of hydrangea germplasm resources, the developmental molecular biology of endangered plant resources, the breeding of new varieties, and the research on the genetic diversity of important forest resources.
Dr. Lu Xu, Associate Professor, Department Head. The Horticulture Department of the College of Horticulture at Hunan Agricultural University focuses on ornamental horticulture. She received her BS from Central South University of Forestry and Technology (2011), her MSc (2013), and PhD (2016) from the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF). Her teaching disciplines include Horticultural Plant Cultivation, Horticultural Biotechnology, Vertical Planting, Landscape Dendrology, and Frontier Advances in Ornamental Horticulture. Her research interests include the interaction between ornamental plants and microorganisms and the application of ornamental plant cultivation. She has been researching the interaction mechanism between ornamental plants (orchids, Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum, and chrysanthemums) and microorganisms, and the application of microbial resources in cultivating ornamental plants.
