Speakers
Thank you to our generous sponsors who’s support make this workshop possible.
JC Chong, Technical Development Manager for the Ornamental Market at SePRO Corporation
Before joining SePRO in 2023, JC was a professor and extension specialist in turf and ornamental entomology at Clemson University for 16 years. At SePRO, JC roles include developing new pest and plant management products and approaches in greenhouses and nurseries and providing technical support and education to growers and distributor sales representatives throughout the country.
Dr. Brian Jackson, Professor and Director of the Horticultural Substrates Laboratory at NC State University
He has researched growing media in soilless cultivation systems since 2005. His research has primarily focused on wood fiber substrate sourcing, engineering, production and management in floriculture, ornamental, vegetable, and soft fruit crops.
W. Garrett Owen, Assistant Professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University
Dr. Owen holds a PhD in Horticulture. His responsibilities are in sustainable greenhouse and nursery systems with an appointment of 50% Extension, 30% Research, and 20% Teaching. His major program initiatives include floriculture and nursery crop propagation and production, plant nutrition and growth regulation, nutritional monitoring, crop diagnostics, sustainability, and grower education. He is also a leader and contributor of two national online Extension initiatives – e-GRO (Electronic Grower Resources Online; www.e-gro.org) and Fert, Dirt, and Squirt (Nutritional Monitoring of Greenhouse Crops; https://fertdirtsquirt.org).
Evan Alderman, Co-Coordinator & Agricultural and Natural Resource Extension Specialist with the Pesticide Safety Education Program, Iowa State University.
Evan coordinates and produces all specialty crop pesticide continuing instruction courses for the state of Iowa, training approximately 10,000 applicators each year. Evan’s background includes a BS degree from Iowa State University in Horticulture with an emphasis in Turfgrass Management and a MS degree from Kansas State University in Horticulture with an emphasis in Turfgrass Science.
Chris Currey, Associate Professor of Horticulture at Iowa State University and Extension and Outreach Horticulture State Specialist
Chris received his B.S. in Horticulture and M.S. in Applied Plant Science from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. in Horticulture at Purdue 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.