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Meet the Team
Dr. Manreet Bhullar
Dr. Manreet Bhullar
Kansas State University, Olathe
Dr. Manreet Bhullar comes from Gurdaspur, Punjab, India, where he was born and raised on a small family farm. His upbringing around agriculture-loving people inculcated in him a passion for pursuing higher education in agricultural sciences.
Dr. Bhullar earned a B.S. degree (2013) in agricultural sciences from Punjab Agricultural University, India, a master's degree (2016) in Animal and Food Sciences from Tennessee State University, and later, a Ph.D. degree (2019) in Food Science and Technology from Iowa State University.
Dr. Bhullar is a food microbiologist and agricultural scientist with a research focus on enhancing the microbial safety of fresh produce. His research lab at K-State Olathe emphasizes identifying various routes of contamination in the food supply chain and developing antimicrobial interventions to minimize risks and protect public health.
In creating this project, Dr. Bhullar has taken his research and implemented it directly into the agricultural field by starting at the beginning of the food supply chain: with growers.
For more information on Produce Safety, visit: https://bhullarlab.com/
Dr. Tricia Jenkins
Dr. Tricia Jenkins
Kansas State University, Olathe
Tricia Jenkins, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Applied and Interdisciplinary Studies at K-State Olathe. She teaches in the urban food systems master's degree program, which is a specialization in horticulture. Jenkins has a 70% teaching and 30% research appointment.
She completed her doctorate in horticulture at K-State Olathe in 2021. Her dissertation was "Maximizing quality in grafted tomato production systems." For her dissertation, she studied the effect grafting has on the yield, quality and nutritional content of Tasti-Lee tomatoes grown in a high tunnel system. She has been trained in postharvest physiology of fruits and vegetables and has worked in Eleni Pliakoni's Postharvest Handling Lab at K-State Olathe as a graduate student and a postdoc.
As a postdoc, Jenkins conducted qualitative research to investigate the postharvest handling needs of organic produce growers. She also served as the program coordinator for Growing Growers — a K-State Extension farming apprenticeship program.
Technology Development Institute (TDI) at Kansas State
Quinton Berggren
Quinton Berggren
Senior Engineer
Evan Craig
Evan Craig
Engineering Intern
This project was heavily supported in the design, build, and planning process by Quinton Berggren (Senior Engineer), Evan Craig (Engineering Intern), and the Technical Development Institute at Kansas State.
As engineers, they not only served as the main designers and builders for this project, but they also offered valuable insight into how the demonstration and layout would be most effective for you, the audience.
PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies Interns
Riley Kovalcik
Riley Kovalcik
Stony Brook University
Environmental Design, Policy and Planning
Bethany Lopez
Bethany Lopez
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Mechanical Engineering
Ethan Poon
Ethan Poon
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Computer Engineering
Fallon Regan
Fallon Regan
Lafayette College
Environmental Studies
Malina Wong
Malina Wong
California State University, Monterey Bay
Environmental Science
Through interdisciplinary fields of study, the Green Teams members Riley, Bethany, Ethan, Fallon, and Malina at PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies served KSU Mobile Lab to design and build the trailer with TDI. The team created user manuals for demonstration technology and FSMA guidelines to support grower demonstrations in summer of 2026.
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