In 1995, Dr. Taylor received his Ph.D. in Genetics from North Carolina State University and began working as a postdoctoral researcher at Monsanto. He moved into the Disease Control group as a Senior Scientist and began studying soybean interactions with the soybean cyst nematode. In 1999, Dr. Taylor left Monsanto and took a position at a small startup company (Akkadix LLC) in San Diego, California to further explore the applied aspects of nematode control. In 2001, Dr. Taylor moved to the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center as a Principal Investigator leading a large research program in plant-biotoc interactions. He expanded his research program to include not only plant-nematode interactions but also interactions with bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. In 2009, Dr. Taylor moved to The Ohio State University, Depatment of Plant Pathology.