The Doctor Is In

In this podcast Dr. Nadia discusses 5 ways to optimize the cooling you get out of your AC this summer, including using evaporative cooling on your unit’s inlets to reduce its workload on those hot days. Listen in to hear all five! If you have questions or topics that you’d like Dr. Nadia to cover, contact us at [email protected]

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Fatemeh Sheibani. Fatemeh is a Post-doctoral Research Associate at Purdue University. Dr. Sheibani’s main research topic is “enhancing resource-utilization efficiency of indoor farming”. With an emphasis on vertical farming, she has been focused on improving the energy-utilization efficiency of light-emitting diodes as the sole-source of lighting. Optimizing environmental inputs for different stages of leafy green production through “phasic optimization” is another focus of her research area. Fatemeh completed her Ph.D. in 2023 under Dr. Cary Mitchell's supervision.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Neil Mattson. Neil is a Professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. His position is 50% research, 30% extension, and 20% teaching and he serves as a statewide greenhouse specialist. Neil joined Cornell in 2007 after completing his PhD from the University of California Davis and master’s from the University of Minnesota. Mattson is the director of Cornell’s Controlled Environment Agriculture program and co-academic principal investigator of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE), a public-private consortium that de-risks adoption of energy efficient greenhouse technologies. Mattson’s research is focused on optimizing performance and resource use efficiency while increasing the profitability of vegetables, small fruits, and floriculture crops in protected environments. Specific research interests include strategies to reduce energy use in lighting through LED adoption and intelligent light controls, sustainable fertilization practices, and development of new CEA crops. Mattson has authored/co-authored 72 journal articles and 30 refereed book chapters and conference proceedings. Through Mattson’s extension appointment and GLASE, the Cornell CEA program maintains direct relationships with CEA producers and allied trade across the U.S. Translating research into industry accessible bulletins and presentations is an important programmatic strength. Mattson has delivered 347 presentations and 27 webinars to more than 15,000 industry members and authored/co-authored 74 trade journal articles and 111 extension bulletins.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Neil Mattson. Neil is a Professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University. His position is 50% research, 30% extension, and 20% teaching and he serves as a statewide greenhouse specialist. Neil joined Cornell in 2007 after completing his PhD from the University of California Davis and master’s from the University of Minnesota. Mattson is the director of Cornell’s Controlled Environment Agriculture program and co-academic principal investigator of the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE), a public-private consortium that de-risks adoption of energy efficient greenhouse technologies. Mattson’s research is focused on optimizing performance and resource use efficiency while increasing the profitability of vegetables, small fruits, and floriculture crops in protected environments. Specific research interests include strategies to reduce energy use in lighting through LED adoption and intelligent light controls, sustainable fertilization practices, and development of new CEA crops. Mattson has authored/co-authored 72 journal articles and 30 refereed book chapters and conference proceedings. Through Mattson’s extension appointment and GLASE, the Cornell CEA program maintains direct relationships with CEA producers and allied trade across the U.S. Translating research into industry accessible bulletins and presentations is an important programmatic strength. Mattson has delivered 347 presentations and 27 webinars to more than 15,000 industry members and authored/co-authored 74 trade journal articles and 111 extension bulletins.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Nico Augsburger. Nico is the Head of Sales in North America for iyris. His background is in environmental science and innovation, where his graduate research focused on the treatment of wastewater intended for agricultural reuse. Upon completion of his graduate studies at KAUST, he joined the iyris team in 2021 (then Red Sea Farms) to support in product development and market research. As the SecondSky nanomaterial began demonstrating positive effects across a range of crops and conditions, Nico’s role evolved from product to business development. Nico has supported the set-up and execution of global manufacturing relationships and product trials, with a focus on the Americas. As of 2024, Nico leads the sales effort in the Americas as iyris continues to expand its impact across crops and geographies. 

Outside of work, Nico enjoys planning local nature hikes with his wife and kids, baking sourdough bread, and playing tennis.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Emma Menden. Emma is a recent graduate of the University of Arizona Biosystems Engineering graduate program. Her master’s thesis is entitled “Fusarium Wilt of Lettuce Commercial Cultivar Variety Trial”. Emma was born in Virginia, where she completed an associate degree in civil engineering before transferring to the University of Arizona to complete her Bachelor’s degree in Biosystems Engineering. Her primary interests are controlled environment agriculture, vertical farming, global food systems, food accessibility, and science communication.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features John Ertle. John Ertle is a Plant Physiologist at PP Systems, specializing in the development and application of portable photosynthesis measurement instruments for studying leaf-level gas exchange. In his role, he not only conducts plant science research within the company but also collaborates with academic and industry partners to enhance research outcomes.

John's prior research initiatives include formulating methods to address lettuce tipburn, a prevalent nutrient deficiency in vertically farmed lettuce that impacts its marketability and growth. Additionally, he developed thermal time models to assess the chilling tolerance of grafted watermelon seedlings, aiding their safe transportation to open-field growers.

John earned his PhD in Horticulture and Crop Science from The Ohio State University in 2023, where he studied under Dr. Chieri Kubota. He received his MS in the same field in Dr. Kubota’s lab in 2020 and holds a BS in Biology from the University of Akron, obtained in 2017.

This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, engineers, and manufacturers who work in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave.

This week’s episode features Paul Brentlnger. Paul is a second-generation owner of CropKing Inc and has 20+ years of experience working with controlled environment agriculture growers all over the world. He has studied best-of-breed controlled environment and hydroponic practices across the globe to apply the most efficient and cost-effective practices into optimal systems for CropKing customers. Paul leads the CropKing teams in consulting, sales and management, providing solutions for growers of all sizes.

Learn more about Crop King and their upcoming workshops.