Agenda

AGENDA

Day-1: July 9, 2024, Gold Ballroom, Francis Marion Hotel

7:30 am-: Registration

8:00 am - 8:05 am: Welcoming remarks: Dr. Kai-Shu Ling, USDA-ARS, Research Plant Pathologist, Chair of the Organizing Committee

8:05 am – 10:00 am: Opening remarks (Moderator: Dr. Prassana Gowda, USDA ARS SEA Associate Area Director)

·       USDA-REE: Sanah Baig, Deputy Under Secretary

·       USDA-ARS: Dr. Nora Lapitan, Deputy Administrator for Crop Production and Protection

·       NASA-BPS: Dr. Lisa Carnell, Division Director, NASA Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS)

·       Department of Energy: Mr. Mike Rinker, Senior Technical Advisor for DOE Undersecretary of Science and Energy

·       Clemson University: Dr. Patrick Wechter, Director, Coastal Research & Education Center

·       CEA Alliance: Mr. Tom Stenzel, Executive Director

10:00 am – 10:30 am: Coffee break

10:30 am –11:30 am: CEA industry stakeholder discussion to identify the challenges and opportunities (Moderator: Joseph Munyaneza, USDA-ARS National Program Leader) 

·       Tom Stenzel (CEA Alliance, Executive Director and Principal, The Stenzel Group LLC)

·       David Flynn (AmplifiedAg, Vice President for Business Development)

·       Roger Buelow (COFRA Strategic Food Group, Chief Technology Officer)

·       Mike Bledsoe (Village Farms, Vice President, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs

·       John Paul Boukis (Square Roots, Head of Innovation)

11:30 pm – 12:00 pm:  Onsite/nearby energy and renewable integration (Moderator, Mike Rinker, DOE, Senior Technical Advisor)

·       Liping Wang (University of Wyoming, Associate Professor and Interim Director, Center for Controlled Environment Agriculture)

·       Shamim Ahamed (University of California Davis, Assistant Professor): Towards net-zero indoor farming with onsite renewable energy.

12:00 am – 1:00 pm: Lunch (Buffet)

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm:  Innovation in Controlled Environment Agriculture: Learning from Experience (Moderator: Jennifer Stokes-Draut, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Research Scientist)

Session Abstract: For new innovations in CEA to succeed, they have to successfully navigate the early stages of deployment to achieve commercial success, whether the innovation is a new gadget, a new plant type, or a new operational strategy. In this panel, we will talk through examples of past innovation in CEA, either from the panelists own experience or what they have observed in the industry to highlight lessons learned about what encourages and what inhibits successful commercialization of innovations in the sector. For further information, please check:

·       Gene Giacomelli (University of Arizona, Professor)

·   Andrew Horowitz (KUBO Greenhouses, North American Director of Strategic Development)

·       Brian Harris (Hort Americas, Regional Technical Sales Manager)

·       Alex Hewitt (80 Acres Farms, Director of Design)

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm:  Innovative technologies on artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation (Moderator, Jennifer Boldt, USDA-ARS, Research Horticulturist)

·       Jan Westra (Priva, Strategic Business Developer): Automation and Process Integration for Ag Economic Development

·   Andrew Brooks (Priva, Business Development Manager: Southeastern US): Automation and Process Integration for Ag Economic Development

·       Thomas Igou (Georgia Institute of Technology, Research Scientist): Non-destructive crop status inference for CEA optimization and control.

·   Shreyas Kousik (Georgia Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor): Opportunities for robotic manipulation in controlled environment agriculture.

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Coffee break

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm: Federal funding opportunities for CEA research and development (Moderator: Mathieu Ngouajio, USDA-NIFA National Science Liaison)

·       Mathieu (Mat) Ngouajio (USDA-NIFA, National Science Liaison): NIFA funding opportunities relevant to CEA.

·   John Reich (Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, Scientific Program Director): Greenhouses in transition.

·   Leslie Glover (USDA-NRCS, Program Manager): USDA promoting and encouraging innovative production.

·   Mike Rinker (DOE, Senior Technical Advisor Senior): How the DOE funding opportunities are organized, and how agriculture and CEA researchers can become engaged.

·   Elison Blancaflor (NASA Kennedy Space Center, Portfolio Scientist): Funding opportunities at NASA for space plant biology and agriculture.

4:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Poster session (22 posters, Gold Ballroom, Francis Marion Hotel)

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Reception (Poinsette Room, Francis Marion Hotel)

Day-2: July 10, 2024, Gold Ballroom, Francis Marion Hotel

7:30 am-: Registration

8:00 am – 9:15 am:  Artificial light efficiency to improve photosynthesis (Moderator: Jennifer Boldt, USDA-ARS, Research Horticulturist)

·       Morgan Pattison (US DOE SSL Program, Contracted Senior Technical Advisor):  LED lighting technology and R&D for horticulture.

·       Jennifer Boldt (USDA-ARS, Research Horticulturist): Improving light use through managing the growing environment.

·       Ricardo Hernandez (North Carolina State University, Associate Professor): Increasing light-use-efficiency with CO2 enrichment, impact on plant growth, energy, and economics. 

·       Francesco Orsini (University of Bologna, Italy, Professor): Using light and energy efficiency as discrimination tools for diversifying crop production in vertical farms.

·       Giuseppina Pennisi (University of Bologna, Italy, Assistant Professor): Beyond the PAR region: how far-red management can help manipulating plants’ architecture and yield of leafy vegetables in vertical farming systems.

9:15 am – 10:15 am: Water and CEA: a complicated relationship (Moderator: James Altland, USDA-ARS, Research Leader and Research Horticulturist)

·   Uttara Samarakoon (The Ohio State University, Associate Professor): Integrating high value crops to CEA though organic production.

·       Gary Amy (Clemson University, Professor): Controlled environment agriculture with non-conventional water resources.

·       Jim Owen (USDA-ARS, Research Horticulturist): The value and risk of CEA using and impairing freshwater in face of growing public need with a changing climate.

·       Chris Renschler (USDA-ARS, Research Leader / Supervisory Soil Scientist): Freshwater availability: challenges and opportunities across scales in the landscape context.

10:15 am - 10:45 am: Coffee break

10:45 am – 11:45 am: Plant breeding, adaptation and trialing varieties for CEA (Moderator: Chris Dardick, USDA-ARS, Lead scientist and Plant molecular biologist) 

·       Andrew Ogden (University of Georgia, Assistant Professor): Breeding Cucurbits for CEA production.

·       Chris Dardick (USDA-ARS, Lead Scientist/Plant Molecular Biologist): Genetic engineering of fruit crops for CEA applications.

·       Kellie Walters (University of Tennessee, Assistant Professor): Mizuna and other leafy mustard selection for earth and space.

·       Phillip Wadl (USDA-ARS, Research Geneticist): Rapid controlled environment propagation of virus-indexed sweetpotato and field performance.

11:45 am– 1:00 pm: Lunch (Buffet)

1:00 pm – 2:15 pm: Pests diseases and microbiome (Moderators: Patrick Wechter, Director of the Coastal Research & Education Center, Clemson University and Mattews Mickens, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Project Scientist)

·       Michael Bledsoe (Village Farms, Vice President, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs): Greenhouse pests and diseases and their management

·       Anthony Keinath (Clemson University, Professor): Oomycetes as lettuce pathogens in hydroponic systems – a case study from South Carolina.

·   Cory Spern (NASA, Research Scientist): Challenging the microbiome with pathogen simulants after seed sanitization.

·       Aubrie O’Rourke (NASA, Project Scientist): Ionic silver affects lettuce growth, nutrient uptake, and microbiome and metabolome in a hydroponics system.

·       Christina Johnson (Former NASA postdoc fellow, Plant Data Curator): Microbiome from CEA to space: cultivating innovation through community building and data sharing.

2:15 pm – 3:15 pm: Food processing, quality, safety, and nutrition (Moderator: Pat Millner, USDA-ARS, Research Microbiologist)

·       Pat Millner: - Introduction of Session topics (Food Safety, Quality, Nutrition) and Presenters.

·       Neil Checketts (Mastronardi Produce, VP Food Safety and Quality Assurance): Overview of CEA fresh produce grower perspectives, considerations, and risks.

·       Mengyi Dong (Duke University, Postdoc Associate): Effect of seed treatments on microbial community and nutrient profile in CEA microgreens.

·       Nathan Kelly (USDA-ARS, ORISE Postdoctoral Fellow): Leveraging the light spectrum to improve basil growth and quality attributes.

·       Xiangwu Nou (USDA-ARS, Research Microbiologist): Preliminary exploration of blue light application in CEA leafy green production for pathogen inactivation.

·       Q&A, audience participation & follow-up questions.

3:15 pm – 3:45 pm: Coffee break

3:45 -5:00 pm: Marketing, food distribution and social economic impact (Moderator:  Leslie Glover II, USDA- NRCS, Program Manager)

Key notes (30 minutes including Q&A)

·       Ellis Collier (Senior Policy Advisor for USDA-NRCS):

·       Darvis Jordan (USDA-NRCS South Carolina, Assistant State Conservationist for Partnerships): Small scale CEA producer: Marketing, food distribution, and social economic impact.

·       Wilma Davis (USDA-REE-ERS, Agricultural Economist):  National trends in controlled environment agriculture: implications for marketing, food distribution, and socio-economic impact.

Roundtable (30 minutes including (Q&A)

·       Sabine O'Hara (University of the District of Columbia, Distinguished Prof. & PhD Program Director)

·       Theoneste Nzaramyimana (Kentucky State University, Assistant Professor) 

·       Xinhua Jia (North Dakota State University, Professor and Director of North Dakota Water Resources Research Institute).

·       Brandon Huber (South Carolina State University) 

5:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Closing remarks and selection of next (2025) meeting host 

·       Joseph Munyaneza (USDA-ARS)

·       Shaker Kousik (USDA-ARS)

·       Pat Wechter (Clemson University)

·       Matt Mickens (NASA)

·   Kai-Shu Ling (USDA-ARS)

Day 3, July 11, 2024; Field Education Tour (Boarding buses by Francis Marion Hotel on Calhoun Street side of the hotel)

8:00 am-8:15 am: Boarding shuttle buses (2) by Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston SC 29403)

8:15 am-8:45 am: Driving to AmplifiedAg (1159 Cainhoy Road, Charleston, SC 29492)

8:45 am-10:15 am: Tour of AmplifiedAg (CEA engineering and manufacturer)

10:15 am-11:00 am: Driving to Ambrose Family farms in Wadmalow, SC (2349 Black Pond Lane, Wadmalaw Island, SC 29487)

11:00 am-12:00 pm: Tour of Ambrose family farm (Field vegetable production for community-supported agriculture)

12:00 pm-12:30 pm: Driving to USDA-ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory (2700 Savanah Highway, Charleston, SC 29414)

12:30 pm-1:30 pm: Lunch buffet (catered lunch from Tomato Shed)

1:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Tours of U.S. Vegetable Laboratory (USVL) and Clemson University Costal Research and Education Center (CREC) (in 3 groups, rotating every hour, USVL/PODS/CREC)

4:30 pm-5:00 pm: Return to Francis Marion Hotel (387 King Street, Charleston SC 29403)

Day 4, July 12, 2024, (Pinckney Room)

Discussion on the needs for research and grant proposal preparation (Optional)

Francis Marion hotel small meeting room (Pinckney Room)

8:00 am – 8:10 am: Call to order and housekeeping.

8:10 am – 9:00 am: Brief introduction and expertise.

9:00 am – 10:00 am: Identify key CEA industry challenges and needs for research.

10:00 am – 10:30 am: Coffee break

10:30 am – 11:30 am: Goals, aims, approaches, team leads, budget and support letters.

11:30 am: Meeting is adjourned.