Speakers
Dr. Chieri Kubota
Dr. Chieri Kubota is a distinguished professor of College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the Ohio State University. She also serves as the Director of Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the Ohio State University. Dr. Kubota received Ph.D. in Horticultural Engineering and M.S. in Horticultural Science from Chiba University, Japan. Dr. Kubota worked as faculty for 6 years in Chiba University, 16 years in the School of Plant Sciences at University of Arizona. Dr. Kubota joined the faculty at the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, the Ohio State University in 2017. Dr. Kubota is a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). In research, her focus is on science-based technology development for CEA crop such as lighting technologies, water and nutrient management, and introducing new crops for CEA. Dr. Kubota is very active in training professionals through online courses, hands-on training, and consultations.
Dr. Erik Runkle
Dr. Erik Runkle is a Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University. Erik earned a B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Illinois and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Michigan State University. His research and outreach program has focused on manipulating the greenhouse and indoor environment in the production of high-value specialty crops, particularly floriculture, leafy vegetable, and culinary herb crops. Erik was the director of an indoor leafy greens project (OptimIA), is active in a culinary herb production project (CEA HERB), and is a partner of the Floriculture Research Alliance.
Dr. Kristen Gibson
Dr. Kristen Gibson is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. She received her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Molecular Biology from the University of Central Florida and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public in Environmental Health Sciences. Kristen’s research interests are focused on understanding the fate and transport of human pathogens within the environment including leafy green production systems, optimization of methods for the detection of human pathogens in food and water and on environmental surfaces, and food safety at the retail and consumer level.