Dr. Augé is currently the interim head of the department. He has served as undergraduate director and instructional coordinator for the department. Course responsibilities include Landscape Plant Physiology, Environmental Plant Ecophysiology, Horticultural Internet Technology, and Plant & Garden Photography. Other academic responsibilities in recent years have included courses in plant drought physiology and scientific communication; College representative to the University's Graduate Council; departmental graduate program coordinator; service on graduate student committees; IT coordinator for the University's Environmental Consortium; service on a number of departmental and university committees. His research program addresses protection of plants and soils from environmental stresses. Specific emphases are mycorrhizal symbiosis and plant drought biology; root-to-shoot signaling of soil drying in ornamental, agronomic and forest species; physiological determinants of plant drought tolerance and avoidance and tree response to climate change. Past research involved response of dogwood to environment factors and diseases. Dr. Augé created and maintains the Mycorrhizal Literature Exchange, the departmental site, and a few others. In collaboration with Dr. Arnold Saxton, he is developing a statistical design and analysis web guide (DAWG) for biological and agricultural experiments. Dr. Augé received his PhD in Horticulture from Washington State University in 1986, and his M.A. and B.S. in Biology and Botany from Southern Illinois University in 1975 and 1977, respectively. He postdoc'd for a year with the USDA Weed Physiology Group in Pullman and in September 1987 became a member of the faculty of the Department of Ornamental Horticulture & Landscape Design (OHLD) at UT. OHLD was reorganized in July 2001 into the current Department of Plant Sciences.