
Graduate & Postdoc Projects

John Ertle
John Ertle, Ohio State University
Tipburn Ecophysiology and Management in Indoor Farming
John Ertle is a first-year PhD student at the Ohio State University, under the advisement of Dr. Chieri Kubota.
He is investigating the ecophysiological insight of tipburn, an environmental nutrient disorder problematic in lettuce, and is developing novel microclimate control strategies to mitigate risks of tipburn. John’s project also includes commercial cultivar screening for tipburn sensitivity and dissemination of information and decision support tools to stakeholders.

Nathan Kelly
Nathan Kelly, Michigan State University
Indoor lighting to increase lettuce quality and nutrition
Nathan Kelly is a PhD student at Michigan State University under the advisement of Dr. Erik Runkle.
He is investigating how light quality and quantity can be manipulated to elicit desired quality traits of lettuce grown indoors. He is especially interested in how lighting can be used to promote pigment accumulation and the biosynthesis of nutritious secondary metabolites and vitamins.

Gio Papio
Gio Papio, Ohio State University
Lettuce Transpiration Prediction Tool
Gio Papio is a MS student at the Ohio State University under the advisement of Dr. Chieri Kubota.
He is developing a simple tool to analyze plant microclimate with regard to potential plant transpiration rates, as part of the effort to develop a simple methodology for growers to assess risks of tipburn incidence in lettuce. This tool is also useful for indoor HVAC design and optimization.

Joseph Seong
Joseph Seong, Michigan State University
Quantifying the Critical Elements of CEA Economics
Joseph Seong is a fourth-year PhD student at Michigan State University under the advisement of Dr Simone Valle de Souza.
He works with survey development, economic modelling and programing for the development of an optimization model for the indoor farming industry.

KC Shasteen
KC Shasteen, University of Arizona
Enhanced environmental control and resource use in indoor farming
KC Shasteen is a MS student at the University of Arizona, under the advisement of Dr. Murat Kacira.
He is working on modelling and computer vision-based crop biomass production predictions and co-optimization of environmental variables for enhanced environmental control and resource use in indoor vertical farming.

Fatemeh Sheibani
Fatemeh Sheibani, Purdue University
Energy-efficient indoor production of leafy-greens
Fatemeh Sheibani is a PhD student at Purdue University under the supervision of Dr. Cary Mitchell.
She has been working to develop strategies to enhance energy-efficient indoor production of leafy-greens by leveraging unique properties of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for sole-source lighting. To optimize conditions for indoor leafy-greens production, interaction of LED lighting with other environmental parameters including temperature and CO2 concentration are taken in to account. Close-canopy lighting, targeted lighting, and phasic co-optimization are the main OptimIA strategies that have been under investigation in the Mitchell lab.

Sean Tarr
Sean Tarr, Michigan State University
Improving yield, color, and flavor of leafy greens and herbs grown indoors with precise radiation intensity, temperature, and carbon dioxide management
Sean Tarr is an M.S. student at Michigan State University under the advisement of Dr. Roberto Lopez.
He is quantifying how temperature alone or its interaction with radiation intensity and/or carbon dioxide concentration influence leafy green and herb yield, color, and post-harvest life. Production models that include radiation intensity, temperature, and CO2 will provide growers with the best recipe to improve leaf unfolding rates, color, flavor, and post-harvest lon/gevity.