Oct 24, 2018
A plant experiment in the Kenneth Post Laboratory greenhouse at Cornell University.
*Oct 15, 2019 - Link for Indoor Farm Operations Survey
Agritecture Consulting is excited to announce its partnership with Cornell University to foster industry research networks that accelerate the acceptance, adoption and continued improvement of urban controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems.
The Cornell team is led by Dr. Neil Mattson, an Associate Professor of Horticulture in the School of Integrative Plant Science within the College of Agriculture and the Life Sciences (CALS), and Dr. Anu Rangarajan, who is the Director of Cornell’s Small Farms Program.
As a major part of this partnership, we are conducting a workforce development study for the CEA industry in order to develop an education and workforce training program.
(11/14 - The Survey Is Now Closed - Thank You)
Our first objective with this study is to develop training materials for the role of Master Grower in a Vertical Farm or other high-tech CEA growing operations.
We are currently seeking collaborators to help with this process. We plan to interview CEA Owner-Operators and Master Growers in order to better understand their future workforce needs and, most of all, to develop training materials for the role of Master Grower that can benefit the entire industry.
If you own or operate a CEA growing operation or are a Master Grower with CEA operational work experience, please consider participating in this study.
A plant experiment in the Kenneth Post Laboratory greenhouse at Cornell University.
The study design consists of two parts:
First, respondents will be asked to participate in an online video-interview that will last between 1–2 hours, in order to understand Owner-Operators’ workforce needs and how Master Growers go about their jobs. Interviewees will be entered in a lottery to win one of three $100 gift cards.
Second, we will convene a workshop of Master Growers in early 2019 in New York City in order to collectively develop a training curriculum that Cornell and other educational institutions can use going forward to help supply the CEA industry with qualified job applicants for this crucial position. We will invite qualified participants from the first part of the study to join this workshop. These select participants will have their travel expenses covered.
Participation is voluntary, and individual interview transcripts will be kept strictly confidential.
To participate in this critical study, please contact Cornell Research Associates Maya Ezzeddine and Wythe Marschall (me438@cornell.edu, wmarschall@fas.harvard.edu) with the subject line: Cornell Workforce Development Study
(11/14 - The Survey Is Now Closed - Thank You)
If you have any further questions, you may contact the Institutional Review Board for Human Participants at www.irb.cornell.edu or you may also report your concerns anonymously through Ethicspoint at www.hotline.cornell.edu or by calling 1‐866‐293‐3077.