Panel 1: Adapting Growing Systems, Crop Management, and Benchmarking

Dr. Roberto Lopez’s primary focus is on investigating how photosynthetic light, temperature, and CO₂ influence the physiology, morphology, and development of CEA specialty crops. As a bilingual extension educator, he provides producers with research-based publications, bulletins, production guides, podcasts, webinars, and videos focused on energy-efficient production, some of which are in Spanish.

Bob Jones is co-owner and CEO of The Chef's Garden in Huron Ohio. The Chef's Garden and Farmer Jones Farms is a family owned and operated vegetable farm that grows, packs and ships to restaurants and home consumers throughout the U.S. The farm is managed regeneratively and lives out its mission “To grow exceptional vegetables, care for each other and the land and to inspire a vegetable forward future". The two greatest assets of the farm are our amazing team of people and our healthy soil. Bob and his brother Lee, aka Farmer Lee, have invested their entire lives learning from the land and their father, Bob Sr., whose vision was to grow for flavor and nutrition. Healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people and planet continue to be our goal here at the farm. Bob serves on the board of Metabolic Terrain Institute of Health (MTIH). As well, he presented at the MTIH 2024 event. Bob continues to be requested to speak at industry related and health conferences. Most recently he presented for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine at the 2023 Lifestyle Medicine Conference. 

Dr. Costanza Zavalloni is the Director of Global Plant Research at Driscoll’s, where she leads an international team of plant physiologists advancing the future of berry cultivation. Her work sits at the intersection of plant science, climate resilience, and global food production. At Driscoll’s, she drives innovation in how berries are grown across diverse environments, developing climate-resilient production systems, improving water-use efficiency, and translating complex plant science into practical solutions that enable growers to consistently deliver high-quality fruit with current climate challenges. With a career that bridges academia and industry, Dr. Zavalloni has built deep expertise in plant–environment interactions and sustainable agriculture. She began her scientific journey in Europe, including foundational research at the University of Bologna, and expanded her impact through international agricultural initiatives across Europe and Central America. Today, she is at the forefront of driving Driscoll’s advancements in modern protected cropping, optimizing high-quality berry production across diverse global geographies.

Myles Lewis is the owner of Arizona Vegetable Company and a seasoned instructor at the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC). Since founding his commercial operation, he has focused on advancing resource-efficient, pesticide-free hydroponic production for local fresh markets. Through his involvement with CEAC and contributions as a speaker for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension's Beginning Farmer Program, he has supported grower education and workforce development within the controlled-environment agriculture industry. Myles frequently collaborates with CEAC to train the next generation of indoor growers on hydroponic production, medium composition, and system design. He combines commercial entrepreneurship with applied agricultural research and innovation, drawing on experience in controlled-environment crop production to advance specialty crop production and the evaluation of emerging crops for commercial agriculture. As an inventor and patent holder, he has developed agricultural technologies and crop production systems designed to advance the efficiency and sustainability of modern agriculture.

Dr. Melanie Lewis Ivey is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio State University, Wooster, with responsibility for research, extension and teaching in fruit crop diseases. Lewis Ivey’s research focuses on the development and integration of economical and sustainable practices to reduce plant diseases in small and tree fruit and hops. Lewis Ivey has conducted research in temporal and sub-tropical climates and places a strong emphasis on integrated pest management (IPM) approaches, which can be applied to commercial, home garden and workplace production settings in any environment. Lewis Ivey is also the state Fresh Produce Safety Specialist, with expertise in water quality management.

Dr. Luis Canas is Director of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) International Programs, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in Entomology at Ohio State University. Dr. Canas is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in the management of insect pests that attack plants in controlled environments, with more than 25 years of experience. His research provides applied solutions to problems caused by thrips, whiteflies and mites among others. His areas of expertise include insect management using insecticides and biological control agents, biodemography, insect‐plant interactions.

Dr. Peter Ling is an Associate Professor/Greenhouse Engineer Extension Specialist in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at the Ohio State University. His research focuses on controlled environment plant production and mechanization of growing and harvesting systems.

Dr. Ling has a well-established annual greenhouse engineering extension program. The Greenhouse Management Workshop offered different themes from year to year that has attracted 50-164 attendees every year. Under Dr. Ling’s leadership, The Ohio State University, Rutgers University, and University of Arizona have collaboratively published 52 greenhouse engineering technology learning modules on YouTube with more than 46,000 views.

Matt Korpan is the Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Biophi (formerly known as the Center for Horticultural Innovation).

Dr. Jason Hollick is a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State Univeristy (OSU). He obtained a BS in Horticultural and Crop Science (2021) and PhD (2025) from OSU. Dr. Hollick's research is currently focused on improving productivity of greenhouse-grown high-wire tomato using grafting and autonomous environment control in controlled environment agriculture. His other research interests include flower and fruit production in grafted seedless watermelon and the development of ideal management strategies to improve early season yields.