Imagine students getting hands-on experience with current industry technology. Researchers precisely targeting moisture and nutrients to increase crop yield. Visitors marveling at an abundance of fresh fruits in the dead of winter.
All this will be possible at the CEARC.
The new facility bolsters production research, collaboration, and teaching capabilities with a 15,000 square-foot headhouse and processing lab to support 25,000+ square feet of growing space.
High-tech systems at the CEARC enable researchers to precisely control conditions to optimize plant growth and conduct experiments. New sensing and hydroponic technologies boost controlled environment innovations.
The CEARC serves as a dynamic space for stakeholders and scientists from interdisciplinary backgrounds spanning horticulture, crop science, entomology, plant pathology, food science, human nutrition and health, engineering, and even computer science to facilitate globally applicable food production research.
What’s next? Collaborative projects to test “smart” CEA, evaluate new crops, boost human health, and improve profitability in response to stakeholder and societal needs.
Enter KX’s 360 tour to take a closer look!
Coming this spring: an updated tour to showcase active research projects.
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) employs technology-driven practices to optimize sustainable production. What does that mean? These techniques enable producers to grow food year-round, have more flexibility in growing locations, and control precise factors that contribute to nutrition and flavor.
New research suggests that sustainable methods of production like controlled environment agriculture help feed growing populations, reduce food insecurity, and limit food waste by extending the growing season. Produce grown in controlled environments requires less water and pesticides. And growing food closer to where it is consumed may also limit greenhouse gases produced during long-distance transportation.
Learn more from the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center.
Chieri Kubota is the director of the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. She is also a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science with teaching, research and Extension appointments at Ohio State. Having grown up in urban Tokyo, Dr. Kubota knew very little about agriculture until a professor in her undergraduate program introduced her to the field of controlled environment agriculture. Her intrigue grew from there, and Dr. Kubota went on to earn a doctorate in horticultural engineering from Chiba University in Japan.
Dr. Kubota’s current research focuses on improving leafy green and strawberry production within controlled environments and advancing the technique of vegetable grafting by delving deeper into plant physiology.
Learn more about Dr. Kubota’s lab: https://u.osu.edu/cepptlab/
Learn more about the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center: https://ohceac.osu.edu/
Mark Kroggel is a lecturer at Ohio State who is closely involved with the CEARC facility. Prior to working in academia, Kroggel spent most of his life working in commercial horticulture production and propagation.
Currently, his efforts center on controlled environment agriculture, and he spends his time providing support for controlled environment research as well as training for commercial growers, the general public, and students at Ohio State. Kroggel teaches the hands-on portions of greenhouse courses and often assists graduate students with their individual projects.
Learn more about Kroggel: https://hcs.osu.edu/our-people/mark-kroggel
Michelle Jones has a split appointment at Ohio State, devoting most of her time to research and the remainder to Extension. A professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, Dr. Jones studies floriculture with a specific eye toward the physiology of floricultural crops and plant-microbe interactions. She first became interested in floriculture while attending an undergraduate internship program at Iowa State University, and she has stuck with the field ever since.
Dr. Jones’ current research focuses on how floriculture crop production and postharvest quality can be improved by beneficial microbes that promote plant growth. She also studies the effectiveness of microbe-containing products (like biostimulants) for the enhancement of floriculture crops. Dr. Jones heads the Floriculture Crop Improvement Program as the DC Kiplinger Endowed Chair in Floriculture.
Learn more about Dr. Jones’ program: https://u.osu.edu/joneslab/
Sanja Ilic is an associate professor in the Department of Human Sciences at Ohio State. She is also a food safety state specialist for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension. Her research interests include investigating and promoting food safety among consumers, food handlers and populations at risk, including populations with chronic diseases.
Dr. Ilic studies transmission routes of foodborne pathogens like salmonella and E. coli and works to reduce contamination risks for fresh produce and other foods. Dr. Ilic also researches food safety behaviors with the overall goal of improving health and wellness.
Learn more about Dr. Ilic: https://ehe.osu.edu/human-sciences/directory?id=ilic.2
Learn more about the Fruit and Vegetable Safety Program: https://producesafety.osu.edu/
Peter Ling is an associate professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Ohio State. Dr. Ling earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering and a doctorate in mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University. His expertise is in engineering aspects of controlled environment plant production, including plant monitoring, environmental control, energy conservation, and automation.
Learn more about Dr. Ling: https://fabe.osu.edu/our-people/peter-p-ling
Darren Drewry is an assistant professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering and a core hire of the Translational Data Analytics Institute at Ohio State. His research is focused on understanding vegetation response to climate variability and change. Leveraging his diverse academic background in physics, computer science, and engineering, his primary research focuses on the development and utilization of detailed biophysical models of land surface and atmosphere interactions.
Prior to joining Ohio State in 2019, Dr. Drewry spent several years working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he developed a background in remote sensing of the terrestrial land surface using various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. His current work seeks to integrate modeling and sensing to advance predictive capabilities of vegetation response to climate in both natural and controlled environment conditions.
Learn more about Dr. Drewry’s lab: https://drewrylab.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/
Matt Kleinhenz is a professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. Dr. Kleinhenz’s interests and expertise include crop physiology and crop responses to biotic and abiotic environmental conditions.
Some of his current research focuses on optimizing methods for preparing and utilizing grafted vegetables, helping design and optimize the use of high tunnel systems, and integrating the generation of solar and other alternative forms of power into crop production systems (a field known as agrivoltaics).
Learn more about Dr. Kleinhenz’s Lab: https://u.osu.edu/vegprolab/
Uttara Samarakoon is an associate professor and program coordinator of Greenhouse and Nursery Management at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. Dr. Samarakoon teaches courses such as greenhouse environmental control, greenhouse vegetable production, greenhouse production of annuals, and plant propagation. She also coordinates internship and practicum experiences for students in the greenhouse program.
Her research focuses on developing sustainable production techniques for hydroponic food crops via nutrient optimization, substrate selection, and diversification. Dr. Samarakoon also organizes an annual workshop for K-12 teachers to provide training in greenhouse management and to integrate controlled environmental agriculture education into school curricula.
Learn more about Dr. Samarakoon: https://ati.osu.edu/uttara-samarakoon-phd
Sally Miller is a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. She is also a past president of the American Phytopathological Society. Both her research and Extension work center on the management of diseases and pests in vegetable crops.
Dr. Miller first became interested in plant health under the tutelage of a professor at Ohio State during her undergraduate biology studies. From there, she went on to study plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before returning to Ohio State as a professor in 1991. She has been conducting research and outreach on the identification, biology, and management of diseases of vegetables produced in protected environments for more than 15 years.
Learn more about Dr. Miller: https://plantpath.osu.edu/our-people/sally-miller
Learn more about Dr. Miller’s lab: https://u.osu.edu/vegetablepathologylab/
Melanie Lewis Ivey is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. She is also a fruit pathology and produce safety specialist for Ohio State University Extension. Dr. Lewis Ivey earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in plant sciences before completing a doctorate in plant pathology at Ohio State.
Her current research addresses new and reemerging fruit, hop, and culinary nut diseases, microbial food safety hazards in hydroponic leafy green production operations, and fungicide resistance in phytopathogens. Dr. Lewis Ivey also studies Global One Health issues that impact plant and human health, including antimicrobial resistance in microbe populations in the production environment, as well as food safety.
Learn more about Dr. Lewis Ivey’s lab: https://u.osu.edu/fruitpathology/
Christopher Taylor is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in genetics, Dr. Taylor went on to research root-biotic interactions as well as the development of tools and strategies that prevent disease and improve plant growth and health.
Learn more about Dr. Taylor’s lab: https://rbil.osu.edu/
Luis Canas is an associate professor in the Department of Entomology at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Wooster. With teaching, research, and Extension appointments at Ohio State, Dr. Canas devotes his time to community engagement and education while also studying the ecology of major insect pest groups that affect vegetables and ornamentals produced in controlled environments.
Learn more about Dr. Canas: https://entomology.osu.edu/our-people/luis-canas
James Altland is a research horticulturist and research leader for the USDA-ARS Application Technology Research Unit in Wooster, Ohio. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at Ohio State.
Dr. Altland leads a team of 10 scientists whose specialties encompass multiple aspects of controlled environment agriculture. Together, they work to develop new controlled environment technologies. Dr. Altland’s expertise is in the development of substrate technologies for containerized plant production.
Learn more about the USDA-ARS Application Tecnology Research Unit: https://www.ars.usda.gov/midwest-area/wooster-oh/application-technology-research/
