Jackson earned his B.Sc. in Horticulture and Botany at NCSU, his M.Sc. in Horticulture at Auburn University, and Ph.D. at Virginia Tech. All of Brian's graduate work involved research with substrates including cotton gin compost for his M.Sc. project, which his doctoral work highlighted the physical, chemical and biological properties that influence plant growth in a pine tree substrate. Since arriving to NCSU Brian has joined Drs Bill Fonteno, Ted Bilderback, and Helen Kraus to continue work with wood-based, and other alternative substrates focusing specifically on the processing and development of these materials. Brian is also a full partner in the Horticultural Substrates Lab at NCSU.http://www.ncsu.edu/project/woodsubstrates/