Today’s episode continues our new special series “What Plants Crave from STEM.” In this new series, Dr. Sabeh will be interviewing equipment suppliers, manufacturers, and developers about the unique technological needs for growing crops indoors and greenhouses. This week our guest was Dr. Melanie Yelton, a CEA independent consultant.

Melanie Yelton works as an independent consultant across the Controlled Environment Agriculture sector building on her foundation from working as a director in plant science at Plenty, and as a researcher in the horticulture lighting industry.

In previous roles, her research has focused on optimizing plant growth, flavor and quality using light, and she holds a patent for work involving filamentous fungus. Melanie served as a lecturer and scientist at Stanford University for more than 25 years, studying plant signaling in alfalfa and corn. She also served as Director of Sequencing at the Stanford DNA Sequence and Technology Center, part of The Human Genome Project. Melanie earned her Ph. D. from the University of California, Davis, in plant molecular biology; a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina; and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Virginia Tech.

Listen to Dr. Melanie Yelton sharing her experiences in optimizing plant growth using light and environmental control. She discusses her research on plant signaling and the importance of tailoring light spectra to enhance plant quality and flavor. Yelton also touches on her work in the horticulture lighting industry and the role of technology in advancing CEA practices.