Many people helped make this book possible. Some people stimulated ideas. Others helped in the refinement of ideas and concepts. Still others were the sources of encouragement. Most have been colleagues or students at Louisiana State and Texas Tech Universities; Virginia Tech; the Universities of Arkansas (Fayetteville), Connecticut, Michigan, Iowa, Texas at Austin, and Washington; and Washington State University. We are grateful to many individuals for their wisdom and kindness, and especially, in this edition, Mary Preap (Associate Acquisitions Editor, Plant Science/Professional & Career Development, Academic Press/Elsevier) for her unstinting support and encouragement throughout the project. Five anonymous reviewers based in academic institutions in the United States and abroad assessed the manuscript for this edition. They overwhelmingly recommended that we expand our treatment related to study and research in international settings. With their and Ms Preap’s encouragement, we added relevant material to several chapters in this new edition, and we thank the reviewers and Ms Preap for their recommendations. With admiration, we also acknowledge Dusty Higgins, whose creative graphics enliven and enrich the text. Special thanks are also accorded to the former students who worked with us to bring their stories of doctoral studies and work abroad, and special contributions to pedagogy for teaching assistants, including Ben and Courtney Hood (doctoral study at the University of St Andrews, United Kingdom), Michael Berumen (doctoral study at James Cook University in Australia, and professorial work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST, in Saudi Arabia), Lisa Bentley (postdoctoral studies at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom), and Stephanie Lockwood (pedagogy instruction at Texas Tech University).
Finally, we wish to acknowledge our families, including Dr Erika Densmore and Dr Dawn M. Wong, who understood the necessity of our devoting hundreds of weekend and evening hours to the preparation of this extensively revised edition.