Patrick Conner, professor of horticulture at the UGA Tifton campus, oversees the university’s pecan and muscadine grape breeding programs. His latest plant cultivar, Avalon™, is an improved pecan tree characterized by its large nut size, good kernel quality, moderately early harvest date and excellent resistance to scab fungus. Conner’s research at UGA has led to six patented muscadine grape and pecan cultivars benefiting the agriculture industry in Georgia.