The Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC)
Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) is a science and technology driven system of sustainable production of plants and plant products. The Ohio State University has historically embraced strong greenhouse programs focusing on ornamental crops and more recently our programs have expanded to include food crops under protected and/or controlled environment, mirroring the industry status.
The primary goal of the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC) is for the faculty to more effectively collaborate, better serve our stakeholders to advance CEA, by leveraging the broad range of faculty expertise critical for CEA. The faculty research areas include controlled environment horticulture, greenhouse engineering, food safety, plant pathology and entomology for various crops of vegetables, flowers, as well as other crops grown for plant-based products. OHCEAC is committed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and improve the visibility of the program, which enables us to respond to the needs of CEA industry in Ohio and beyond.
Center Mission and Vision
OHCEAC missions are aligned with University and CFAES vision areas. Specifically, we will:
- Discover, develop, and deploy science-based knowledge to CEA stakeholders.
- Solve highly complex problems limiting sustainable development of CEA by integrating research, education and innovative outreach programs.
- Educate next-generation CEA scientists and professionals through comprehensive and relevant programs.
- Communicate with our peers, stakeholders and public to enhance understanding of the technologies.
The Center’s vision is described as being ‘integrative’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘inclusive’ – three I’s.
- Integrative - OHCEAC will serve stakeholders who are engaged in CEA as business as well as education in the State of Ohio and beyond through integrating our research, education and extension capacities. We also aim to integrate CEA in US agriculture/horticulture crop production to enhance whole-systems sustainability.
- Interdisciplinary - Our vision as an academic leader in CEA, is to advance science-based technologies that improve the sustainability and profitability of CEA. We take problem-solving interdisciplinary approaches including various areas of sciences and engineering.
- Inclusive – Our vision of CEA applications is inclusive, encompassing traditional crops of flowers, vegetables, fruits, as well as other foods and medicines, grown in various systems encompassing from simple structures to vertical farms, or from soil-based in-ground production systems to soilless hydroponic production systems, responding to our stakeholders and societal needs.