Andrew Barocco holds dual positions, one in academia, and the other in industry, as both a graduate student under Dr. David H. Byrne in the Horticultural Sciences department at Texas A&M University, and the Director of the Breeding & Production Manager at The Antique Rose Emporium respectively.
He grew up in the Acadiana region of Southern Louisiana, where he was strongly influenced by the Cajun culture and his Cajun heritage. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 2016 with an undergraduate degree in Horticulture. While at LSU, he restored the Ornamental Sweet Potato Breeding Program and developed hybrid lines containing both ornamental foliage and commercial grade US No.1 storage roots. Also while at LSU, his undergraduate research successfully evaluated exotic sweet potato germplasm lines for new sources of insect resistance.
He moved to Texas in 2017 to pursue his graduate degree under Dr. Byrne. His research is to determine the graft transferability of resistance to the Rose Rosette Virus. He also is interested in making wide and difficult species crosses to introgress new and valuable traits into commercial germplasm. In the future, he plans to double the chromosomes of promising Rose Rosette Virus resistant diploid species roses, thereby possibly increasing their fertility. Not long after moving to Texas, he began work at The Antique Rose Emporium. There, he took up the reins of reinvigorating the breeding program and managing their production.
Andrew is a (CNLP) Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional; placed as the 1st Overall Individual in the J. Benton Story Horticultural Judging Contest at the ASHS – Southern Region Conference 2015, and has served as the Student National President of the (ASHS ACB) American Society of Horticultural Science, Association of Collegiate Branches in both 2015 and 2016. In 2017 he was the winner of the William C. Welch Landscape Horticulture Scholarship.
Occasionally involved in student government, at LSU Andrew served as the Assistant Director for Campus Affairs and Sustainability from 2015 to 2016, and at Texas A&M he served as an emergency GPSC delegate, and a candidate for Student Body President 2018.