Speakers and Panelists

Dr. Kozai is known as the “Father of the Japanese Plant Factory.” He will speak about his experiences and philosophies in key areas of CEA, with the Key Note theme being “LED lighting for Urban Agriculture” based on his new book of the same name.

Professor Toyoki Kozai was inaugurated as the president of Chiba University in 2005. Currently, He is leading R & D of “integrative environment control of greenhouses using heat pump, fogging and null-balance CO2 enrichment systems for hot summer regions” and ‘plant factory with artificial lighting for commercial production of plants’. After serving as the President of Chiba University, Professor Kozai was back in research, education and extension as a professor emeritus in an endowed chair position at the Centre for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, Chiba University, with a special focus on medicinal plant production under controlled environments. Since 2010, he has been working as the Chief-director of Japan Plant Factory  Association (non-profit organization).

 Professor Kozai obtained a BS degree in Horticultural Sciences from Chiba University, and Master and Doctoral degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Tokyo. When he started his academic career in 1973 as an agricultural engineer, his work was focused on greenhouse environment control engineering. After establishing his early work on greenhouse light environments, energy savings, ventilation, and computer control, his scientific interest was extended to in vitro environments and their control for sugar-free medium micro-propagation.

 Award: Lifetime Achievement Award(2009) from Society of In Vitro Biology, USA.The 2002 Purple Ribbon Award (2002) from Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.

Morgan Pattison is founder and President of Solid State Lighting Services, Inc. (SSLS). SSLS is a technology consulting, firm founded in 2008, focused on LED lighting technology. In this capacity Morgan works with clients to evaluate advanced LED lighting technologies, products, and solutions. Clients include: the US Department of Energy, investors, start-ups, large corporations, and purchasers of advanced lighting products. Morgan has a Ph.D. in Materials Science from University of California, Santa Barbara and performed his thesis research under Shuji Nakamura (2014 Nobel Prize winner in Physics for the invention of the blue LED). Morgan also holds Master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and is accredited as ‘Lighting Certified’ (LC).

Leo Marcelis is a professor in Crop Production in Low-Energy Greenhouses at Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is leading the research team Crop Management, Physiology and Modelling of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, a research unit of 120 researchers within Wageningen UR that focusses on innovation in protected cultivation. He has over 25 years of experience in experimental and simulation research on plant growth in controlled environments such as greenhouses and climate rooms. He has (co-) authored more than 120 scientific articles. Prof. Marcelis operates in close collaboration with other departments within Wageningen UR in developing reliable and complete food systems.

Dr. Nadia Sabeh (aka. “Dr. Greenhouse”) specializes in HVAC and climate control for indoor food production systems. In 2007, she received her PhD in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC). Her research focused on ventilation and evaporative cooling systems for tomato production greenhouses, with the goals of reducing water and energy use while optimizing climate control.
As a Masters student at the Pennsylvania State University, Nadia tested ventilation schemes for the uniform distribution of conditioned air in commercial mushroom production houses. Nadia received her B.S. from the University of California-Davis, where her love for controlled environment agriculture began as an intern on a shiitake mushroom farm in southern Idaho. Dr. Sabeh works as a licensed Mechanical Engineer in Sacramento, CA, where she designs HVAC systems and performs energy use simulations for LEED-certified buildings.

Topic: Climate Management: HVAC Requirements (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning)

Professor at the National University of Taiwan, in the Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering of the College of Bio-resources & Agriculture. His specialties are Environmental control in bio-industry Aquacultural engineering; Horticultural engineering; Plant factory; Automation, Culture, Environment, and Systems (ACESys). Model for Vertical Farming. Intelligence Empowered Vertical Farming Systems.

Topic: Hydroponic Systems for Plant Cultivation

Kevin Folta is a professor in and chairman of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida, Gainesville. He got his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998, and he has worked at University of Wisconsin before settling in at University of Florida. Dr. Folta researches the functional genomics of small fruit crops, the plant transformation, the genetic basis of flavors, and studies at photomorphogenesis and flowering. He has also written many publications and edited books, most recently was the 2011 Genetics, Genomics, and Breeding of Berries. Dr. Folta received the NSF CAREER Award, an HHMI Mentoring Award and was recognized as “University of Florida Foundation Research Professor” in 2010.

Christopher Currey is an assistant professor for the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University. His controlled-environment and greenhouse crop research is focused on providing research-based best-management practices to support commercial producers of ornamental and food crops to improve productivity, profitability, and sustainability using and managing light, temperature, mineral nutrition, and plant growth regulators. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy from Purdue University, and a Master of Science from the University of Minnesota.

Topic: Nutrition and Nutrient Uptake

Assistant Professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences in the area of Horticultural Energy at North Carolina State University. He has a Bachelor of Science, Agronomy – Crop consulting from New Mexico State University. His Masters of Science, Entomology – Biological Control from Texas A&M University. Doctoral, Plant Sciences – Plant Physiology from the University of Arizona. Doctoral Minor – Entrepreneurship from the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, Eller School of Business and Minor – Ag and Biosystems Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Topic: Seeding, Seedling Production and Transplanting

Topic: Growing Lettuce and Leafy Greens using Hydroponics in CEA

Dr. Chieri Kubota is a professor in the School of Plant Sciences and Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) at the University of Arizona. Dr. Kubota received Ph.D. from Chiba University, Japan. In 2002, Dr. Kubota left Japan, where she worked as an assistant/associate professor for 6 years, and joined the faculty of School of Plant Sciences at University of Arizona. She also has a joint appointment at the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Her research program focuses on the development of science-based technologies in the area of controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Her teaching program uniquely encompasses plant sciences and horticultural engineering. Dr. Kubota has been very active in interdisciplinary collaborations contributing to horticultural crop production. Her work on vegetable grafting, high quality greenhouse crop production, hydroponic strawberry production, as well as LED lighting has been widely known by her peers and stakeholders.

Topic: CEA Production Challenges

Mark Kroggel is a research specialist in the School of Plant Sciences in the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. Mark has a BS and MS from The Ohio State University and worked in both industry and universities in the area of ornamental production, propagation and greenhouse crop production. He has participated in hydroponic greenhouse fruit and vegetable production research for the past 14 years at the University of Arizona where crops studied include high-wire vegetable crops, leafy greens, strawberry and grafted seedling production.

Topic: Hydroponic Strawberry Production in CEA

Dr. Don C. Wilkerson received a Bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Arkansas State University, Masters from the University of Arkansas and PhD from Louisiana State University. Following graduation, Don was a Professor and Extension Specialist at Texas A&M University in College Station, where for 28 years he worked closely with the commercial nursery and greenhouse industry. He was also involved in a wide range of research activities focused on sustainable practices for commercial crop production.

After retiring from A&M in 2010, Dr. Wilkerson became Senior Scientist for Plant Production at Caliber Biotheraputics – one of the world’s largest plant made pharmaceutical firms. Don’s formal training in horticulture coupled with his practical experience and knowledge in operating large-scale PMP facility has made him a valuable asset for the CEA community.

Day 2 Topic: Tip Burn Causes and Solutions

Day 3 Topic: CEA - Practical Keys to Success

Dr. Stutte is the principal investigator for several spaceflight experiments designed to grow plants in microgravity. One of these is the Photosynthesis Experiment System Testing Operation (PESTO) experiment, the first plant science experiment to be conducted aboard the International Space Station once it is delivered by the crew of STS-110. Although he was born in Oklahoma, Dr. Stutte considers Fayetteville, Arkansas his home. He attended the University of Arkansas for two years in the Horticultural Food Sciences Program, finishing his BS degree in Biology at the Oklahoma State University. Dr. Stutte has a Masters Degree in Horticulture for the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Stutte served as a member of the horticulture faculty at the University of Maryland for six years, teaching both graduate and undergraduate horticulture courses.

Topic: National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) “Growing Food in Space and Applying that Knowledge on Earth”

Mike Chirveno is a partner in and the Chairman of FreshXperts, a multi-disciplinary consultancy for the fresh industry. He is the firm’s Customer Experience and Technology expert. He has designed, built and managed engaging and informative customer experiences for more than 35 years in a wide variety of industries including consumer packaged goods, retail, agriculture, hospitality, publishing, healthcare, professional services, financial services, automotive, construction and non-profits. He is an adjunct faculty member at Baker University teaching graduate students strategic planning. Mike has a BS in education from Calvary Bible College and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He is also a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP).

Dr. Erik Pekkeriet is working as a Senior Project Manager in Vision and Robotics in Agriculture and Food at Wageningen UR, The Netherlands. He completed his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Emmen, in 1994. Within the Mechanical Engineering he specialized in Maintenance Technology and Management. After he finished his BSc he started his career at Philips as a project employee in maintenance management at a Philips production plant.
After a few years he started as a consultant in innovation management in Greenhouse Horticulture. He started as a single consultant, but built and led a department with 5 innovation consultants. After 7 years he made a change to Wageningen UR, to work directly with real technicians’ and researchers building innovative robots, vision sorting systems and new greenhouse production systems for, and together with growers and machine manufacturers. Main projects he developed and worked on the last 11 years were: Vision Sorting Systems for pot plants, cut flowers and vegetables in X-ray-, NIR-, Fluorescence and RGB-technology in 2D and 3D; robot harvesting systems for cutting roses, gerberas, cucumbers and tomato leaves and new moving greenhouse production systems for chrysanthemum, pot plants and cucumber. Currently he is leading the EU funded Pick n Pack project.

Topic: Using Automation and Robotics in the CEA Farm

Dr. Don C. Wilkerson received a Bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Arkansas State University, Masters from the University of Arkansas and PhD from Louisiana State University. Following graduation, Don was a Professor and Extension Specialist at Texas A&M University in College Station, where for 28 years he worked closely with the commercial nursery and greenhouse industry. He was also involved in a wide range of research activities focused on sustainable practices for commercial crop production.

After retiring from A&M in 2010, Dr. Wilkerson became Senior Scientist for Plant Production at Caliber Biotheraputics – one of the world’s largest plant made pharmaceutical firms. Don’s formal training in horticulture coupled with his practical experience and knowledge in operating large-scale PMP facility has made him a valuable asset for the CEA community.

Day 2 Topic: Tip Burn Causes and Solutions

Day 3 Topic: CEA - Practical Keys to Success

Dr. Takagaki has done research and taught in the fields of tropical agriculture, vegetable science, environmental control, protected horticulture and training of basic horticulture.
Dr. Takagaki Took a leading role in creating the university’s international-student-assisting system, in establishing the sister-university-ship with many universities in the world, including Panamanian universities, and in launching the international double-degree programs with Tsinghua University in China, Mahidol University in Thailand, and Bogol Agricultural University in Indonesia.
Organized, at Chiba University, the first English short course in Vertical Farm in Japan.

Topic: Educating your Labor Force in CEA

Investment Panel - How to Fund CEA Operations

Chris Higgins is the General Manager and co-Owner of Hort Americas, LLC a wholesale supply company focused on all aspects of the horticultural industries, as well as founder of UrbanAgNews.com. With over 15 years of experience, Chris is dedicated to the horticulture and niche agriculture industries and is inspired by the current opportunities for continued innovation in the field of controlled environment agriculture. He is dedicated to creating change through a variety of non-profit and community minded projects.

After a 20-year career in technology, in mid-2014 Jim took a year to fully immerse himself into the world of controlled environment agriculture. With a primary focus on indoor vertical farming (operations using 100% LED lighting), Jim was able to connect and directly engage with many of the industry’s most credible operators and start-ups. His first industry position was as interim Director of Business Development at Urban Produce, a large-scale indoor vertical farm in southern California - he continues to provide consulting and advisory services to them. He is currently the Director of Business Development at Urban Ag News and a contributing writer profiling industry leaders through one-on-one interviews and at-large reporting. Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University.