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Meet the eGRO Team

Nora Catlin is the Floriculture Specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County where she has extension and research responsibilities. Through educational programs and publications, applied research and demonstrations, as well as individual consultations, Nora provides Long Island growers of greenhouse and floriculture crops with up-to-date information and recommendations for crop selection, crop production, pest identification and management, business management, environmental issues, and applicable regulations.

Raymond Cloyd is a Professor and Extension Specialist at Kansas State University. He is the horticulture crops entomologist and his areas of specialization are Integrated Pest Management (IPM), ornamental horticulture, and biological insect and mite control.

Chris Currey is an Associate Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University specializing in greenhouse and controlled-environment crop production. His research focuses on alternative greenhouse cropping systems, including hydroponic culinary herb production, alternative mineral nutrition and fertilization strategies, and new uses for plant growth regulators. In addition to research, Chris also teaches four courses on greenhouse operations and management, hydroponic food crop production, and spring and fall ornamental greenhouse crop production. His extension program is focused on providing support for greenhouse growers in the Upper Midwest.

Ryan Dickson is an Assistant Professor of Greenhouse and Controlled-Environment Agriculture in the University of Arkansas Department of Horticulture. Dr. Dickson’s research program focuses on fertilizer nutrient/pH management, water quality, soilless substrates, and postharvest for hydroponic food and container edible crops. Instructed courses include Greenhouse Management and Greenhouse Crop Production.

Nick Flax is a Horticulture Educator with Penn State Extension, based in Doylestown, PA. His background is in greenhouse crop physiology, with an emphasis on plug, annual bedding-plant, and herbaceous perennial production, and container-crop production using biocontainers. Nick has industry experience in wholesale young- and finished-plant production and retail floriculture, and a strong background in pest and disease diagnosis, biological IPM, and controlled-environment crop research.

Dan Gilrein is the Extension Entomologist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, Riverhead, NY since 1995 and previously served there as IPM Specialist with Cornell from 1987. In his current position he conducts applied research on control of arthropod pests in food crops and on ornamental plants, provides diagnostic services to the horticultural industries, and conducts educational programs and presentations for industry, government officials, civic groups and the public on pests and pest management.

Tom Ford is a Commercial Horticulture Educator with Penn State Extension and is based in Ebensburg, PA. Tom has statewide responsibilities in the areas of biological control, integrated pest management, greenhouse vegetable production, and floriculture. He has worked as an Extension Educator for 33 years with service time in MD, NC, and PA.

Chieri Kubota is a Professor/Extension Specialist, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, and Director of Ohio Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (OHCEAC), The Ohio State University. With an interdisciplinary greenhouse training background, Dr. Kubota's research and extension efforts focus on the intersection of horticultural sciences and engineering. She has worked on issues in CEA crop production such as lighting technologies, water and nutrient management, and introducing new crops for CEA. Dr. Kubota is very active in training professionals through online courses, hands-on training, and consultations. She also regularly communicates with stakeholders through social media (e.g. Facebook), webinars, science cafes, and presentations at grower conferences.


Joyce Latimer is a Professor and Greenhouse Extension Specialist at Virginia Tech. Her specialty is in perennials production, problem solving, and plant growth regulation. Joyce has been recognized for her Extension service to the industry with the Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence (Virginia Tech), Horticultural Initiative Award (Southeast Color Connection, 2010), and the Outreach Excellence Award (Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2007).

Heidi Lindberg is a greenhouse and nursery extension educator based in West Olive, Michigan. She serves growers in western Michigan, especially the dense number of growers in Ottawa, Kent, and Muskegon counties. She provides research-based educational programming and diagnostic support for greenhouse growers in southwest Michigan.

Roberto G. Lopez is an Associate Professor and Floriculture/Controlled Environment Extension Specialist at Michigan State University. He has an appointment in research, teaching and extension.  His area of expertise is; controlled environment specialty crop production; Lighting applications for greenhouses and indoor vertical production; light-emitting diodes; young plant propagation.

Neil Mattson is an Associate Professor and Greenhouse Extension Specialist at Cornell University. He has an appointment in research, extension, and teaching. He researchers strategies to optimize floriculture and vegetable crop production while reducing energy, fertilizer, and water resources. He directs Cornell’s Controlled Environment Agriculture group which develops lighting and greenhouse control strategies to maximize hydroponic vegetable production.

W. Garrett Owen is an Assistant Professor of sustainable greenhouse and nursery production systems in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University. He has an appointment in research, teaching and Extension. His area of expertise is floriculture crop production; plant nutrition; plant growth regulation of herbaceous perennials and woody ornamentals, and production problem diagnostics.
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Rosa E. Raudales is an Associate Professor of horticulture and the Greenhouse Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Connecticut. Her research areas focus on sustainable greenhouse production including water and nutrient management, irrigation with non-traditional water sources, and biocontrol of waterborne-plant pathogens.

Alicia Rihn is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at The University of Tennessee specializing in nursery, greenhouse, and specialty crops. Her position is split between research and extension. Her background merges horticultural science with behavioral economics to address questions related to consumer behavior, value-added attributes, niche markets, retail promotions, and other opportunities and challenges in the specialty crops industry.


Debalina Saha is an Assistant Professor of ornamental weed management in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University. She has an appointment in research, teaching and extension. Debalina provides statewide weed identification and management recommendations for ornamental plant production in greenhouses, nurseries, landscapes, and in Christmas tree production. The primary goal of her research program is to improve upon current weed control practices and develop new effective methods of weed control using integrated approach that involves both chemical and non-chemical strategies.


Beth Scheckelhoff is an Extension Educator for Greenhouse Systems at The Ohio State University. Beth provides Ohio greenhouse vegetable and ornamental growers with research-based information and recommendations for crop production, pest management, business management, and produce safety topics via educational programs, individual consultations, and publications.

Brian E. Whipker is a professor of floriculture at North Carolina State University. He has an appointment split between extension and research, but also teaches the graduate level plant nutrition course at NC State. His specialization is plant nutrition, plant growth regulators, and problem diagnostics. He brings over 25 year of experience in diagnosing grower plant problems.

Ariana Torres is an Assistant Professor of Horticulture and Agricultural Economics. Her program focuses on the decision-making processes of specialty crop farmers, along with the use of digital marketing technologies among industry stakeholders. Her expertise includes the economic modeling of adoption of new technologies, the development of decision-making tools for specialty crop growers, and the economic impact of growers decision-making processes. Her research provides relevant research-based information to her extension program, Horticulture Business to provide trainings and publications to farmers, business owners, Extension personnel, and policymakers.

Jean Williams-Woodward is an Associate Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist at the University of Georgia. Jean provides statewide plant disease diagnosis and management recommendations for ornamental plants in greenhouses, nurseries, and landscapes. She also teaches three courses in plant disease diagnosis and ornamental pest management. She brings over 22 years of experience in working with ornamental plant producers and extension outreach providing education programs and on-site plant problem diagnostics.