Robert K. Soost (November 13, 1920,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

– March 8, 2009) was a citrus expert and professor of genetics at

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, and sixth curator of the

University of California Citrus Variety Collection The UCR Citrus Variety Collection (CVC) is one of the most important collections of citrus diversity in the world. It is used for research, plant breeding, and educational extension activities on the UC Riverside campus in Riverside, California. ...

. He studied at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

. Soost worked to develop important citrus varieties, including two noted grapefruits (the

Oroblanco An oroblanco, oro blanco (white gold), Pomelit (Israel) or sweetie (''Citrus grandis'' Osbeck × '' C. Paradisi'' Macf.) is a sweet seedless citrus hybrid fruit similar to grapefruit. It is often referred to as oroblanco grapefruit. Developmen ...

and the Melogold at that university's

citrus experiment station The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the citrus production, oran ...

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.) as well as two noted mandarins. Was a co-author of volume II of

The Citrus Industry (book) ''The Citrus Industry'' is a book consisting of five volumes of scientific and experimental information on all the citrus species and varieties, originals as well as hybrids. The book was produced by scientists associated with the University of C ...

. On March 8, 2009, the professor died from a heart attack.

References

1920 births 2009 deaths American botanists University of California, Riverside faculty {{US-botanist-stub