Greenhouse Operations: The New Normal After COVID-19

Greenhouse Operations: The New Normal After COVID-19

Rhoda Maurer of Cornell AES and Tami Brenner of Colorado State University discuss current impacts to SOPs and daily operations inside plant growth facilities and research greenhouses.

Topics include:

• Updating SOPs for plant touching, cleaning and sanitation
• Adding simple automation methods to your greenhouse
• Monitoring crop performance and your grow environment
• Keeping operations teams engaged and working together
• Evaluating environmental and lighting controls to improve plant health
• Learn how to use your team and their hours where they matter most.

Speakers:

Av Singh, Chief Science Officer 
After completing his post-doc at the University of Minnesota on pasture-based livestock production, Singh worked at the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada and served as the Organic and Small-Scale Farming Specialist in Nova Scotia, for over 15 years, and recently held the Just Us! Chair in Small Farm Sustainability.

Av has had the privilege of visiting over 2000 farms across five continents which has shaped his extension of holistic, system-based design solutions. Emphasizing a union of traditional knowledge with science, Av works with growers to cultivate an appreciation of plant:soil interrelationships.

Currently, Av and his colleague Randy Flemming serve as Cultivation Advisors within the industry www.fs- .com. Av is also the Commercial Science Specialist at Greenstar Plant Products Inc. www.gaiagreen.com , the Chief Science Officer with Green Gorilla www.ilovegreengorilla.com the Chief Agricultural Scientist at BetraLif, the Chief Soil Scientist at CaliCann (Colombia) and formerly served as the Chief Agronomist with the American Cannabis Company, helping to develop the High Times Magazine’s STASH Award-winning super soil.

Rhoda Maurer, Plant Growth Facilities Manager, Cornell University
Rhoda Maurer is the Plant Growth Facilities Manager for Cornell University’s AES research station which is dedicated to sustainable science and hosts more than 400 research, teaching and outreach programs year-round. She also served as the Director of Horticulture for Cornell Botanic Gardens and was responsible for curating more than 40,000 plants across 450 acres, creating programs with a vision dedicated to conservation and sustainability at Cornell and other arboretums, gardens and research stations in New York and Pennsylvania.

Tammy Brenner, Plant Growth Facilities Manager, Colorado State University
Tammy Brenner is the Plant Growth Facilities Manager, managing daily operations and administration for Colorado State University’s research greenhouses, a bio containment greenhouse and a fleet of growth chambers. After spending more than a decade with USDA/ARS and commercial wholesale greenhouses, Tammy now serves as a board member for AERGC, is a member of the Fantastic Four Research Safety Committee and is Federal Select Agent Regulation-certified.