The start of the semester creates a lot of excitement for Ohio State students, especially for those starting new projects. Gustavo Garay-Rodriguez, a first year Ohio State University master’s student, is among those as the recipient of the first annual Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Scholarship.
The CEA scholarship from the Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC) covers the full stipend, tuition, and fees for two years for a student pursing an MS degree through conducting interdisciplinary research contributing to advancing controlled environment agriculture – plant production in greenhouses and other types of controlled environment systems.
Garay-Rodriguez’s project at Ohio State will focus on understanding the effects of different sources of water (e.g. municipal, well-water or rain) on lettuce hydroponics and their associated microorganisms. Garay-Rodriguez will be under the advisement of M. Soledad Benitez Ponce and her lab in Wooster, OH.
Earlier in the summer, Garay-Rodriguez and Benitez Ponce met with Tadd Seitz (scholarship donor) and Chieri Kubota (OHCEAC director) in Columbus, OH to discuss Garay-Rodriguez’s project and its potential impact on CEA.
The 2022 CEA scholarship was made possible through a generous donation from Tadd and Nancy Seitz.
From L to R: Chieri Kubota (OHCEAC Director), Soledad Benitez Ponce (Faculty Advisor for Gustavo), Gustavo Garay-Rodriguez (OHCEAC CEA Scholarship Recipient) and Tadd Seitz (CEA Scholarship Donor)