James is the Director of the Oregon Wine Research Institute and a Professor and Enology Extension Specialist in the Food Science and Technology Department at Oregon State University. He received his PhD from Washington State University in 2005 researching interactions between wine yeast and bacteria after which he spent time in his native New Zealand working at the University of Auckland. His research focuses on the impact of wine lactic acid bacteria, Brettanomyces, and non-Saccharomyces yeast on wine quality James provides outreach programs for the Oregon wine industry such as technical workshops and seminars to aid in the transfer of relevant research results to winery application. In addition, James teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in support of the enology and viticulture program at Oregon State University.