Derek Plotkowski

FRUIT EXTENSION EDUCATOR

Derek Plotkowski is the Michigan State University Extension Fruit Educator for Southeast Michigan. In this role, he coordinates the annual sweet cider contest held at Great Lakes EXPO in Grand Rapids. Derek has been involved in the cider world since 2012, studying with Peter Mitchell, completing an internship at Sidra Trabanco in Asturias, and completing a doctorate at the University of Guelph with a dissertation entitled, “Horticultural and Juice Attributes of Cider Apple (Malus domestica Borkh), Cultivars Grown in Ontario, the Endogenous Development of Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen in Apple Juice, and the Effects of Exogenous Nitrogen Supplementation on the Fermentation of Apple Juice.” He has judged cider at GLINTCAP and the Ontario Craft Cider Competition and spoken at CiderCon about the meaning of terroir.