Fresh Faces in CEA Spaces: Rose Elbert
August 29, 2024 In our 2024 Fresh Faces in CEA Spaces series, we’re talking to young professionals in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) about their work and where they see the industry going in the future. CEAg World recently chatted with Rose Elbert, a graduate student completing controlled environment herb research at Michigan State University.
CEAg World: What first interested you in horticulture, then later, CEA?
Rose Elbert: “My dad grew up on a rural hog farm in Iowa and my mom is from England. When they got together and found a place in the suburbs, they were always gardening.
“I grew up with a little vegetable garden and had annual bedding plants that my mom planted everywhere. It was always a big deal to pick out what was going in the pots on the front step, then my dad would let me plant big tomatoes and potatoes with him.
“But what really got me interested in horticulture was when [my parents] started letting me grow in the herb garden because I’m really interested in culinary herbs. I love herbs and spices because I’m very big on cooking. When you find out that you can grow your own food and make it a little bit better, how could you not fall in love with something like that?
“When I learned more about CEA and understood that you can control the factors that directly influence the quality of your product, it really interested me. You have more control over production to make the best product, and you get to grow things where you usually couldn’t. It’s a really great way to handle extreme weather events and temperature shifts. If you can fund a greenhouse or a CEA project, you can grow something locally anywhere, which is really cool to me.”
CEAg World: Can you tell us more about your research on controlled environment herbs?
Rose Elbert: “I just began working with Dr. Roberto Lopez at Michigan State three days ago, so I’m still learning the ins and outs of the project.
“But I know I’m working with mint cuttings, and I’m currently working on the lighting portion of controlled environment agriculture. I have a counterpart who is working in a growth chamber doing similar research. Together, we can see the effects in both a greenhouse and a growth chamber. I’m working on different UV exposure times for mint plants and oregano plants, so that will be my project this semester.
Mint plants under UV light. | Photo: Rose Elbert
“We’re looking at where in the production cycle UV wavelengths have the most effect on plant architecture, and what those effects can be on plant architecture.
“In order to perform supplemental lighting research, we’re rotating the plants for different periods of time. So that’s about four weeks from start to finish for a mint plant. Once the cutting is in the finish-size pot and some of the plants are getting UV treatment, they’re under supplemental UV lighting the entire time for production and some of them are under UV lighting for the first half of production or the last half of production.
“There will be 10 trials. Some are under for 2.5 or 1.5 weeks at different points in the production cycle. That way, we can get a full range of what the UV lighting might do to the mint or oregano plants.”
CEAg World: Can you tell us more about the CEA Herb Grant you received?
Rose Elbert: “I am very fortunate to be on the CEA Herb Grant, which is a USDA-funded grant. We also have industry partners, so this grant will hopefully help us address the discrepancy in the domestic herb supply because a lot of our herbs are coming internationally, and we want to help producers break into that market in CEA.
Oregano plants under UV light. | Photo: Rose Elbert
“There’s not a lot of existing research on the best methods for growing specific herbs. I have been working on my literature review and I have found there is not a lot of specific information out there for what I am trying to find.
“So, there are lots of gaps that we can fill to help producers grow herbs better, and the grant is directly informed by producers and industry stakeholders. We’re making sure that we’re addressing those needs in order to create a product that is helpful to growers. We’re not just doing research for the sake of doing research.”
CEAg World: Are there any trends you’ve noticed in CEA since you’ve been in the industry?
Rose Elbert: “I think there’s a huge push for sustainability right now, and that’s on two fronts. One for the environment and the other for cost reduction. I have also seen a lot of buzz about beneficials recently.
“I think beneficials are a resource growers would engage with if they had more education about them. There are countries starting to restrict pesticides, including Canada. A lot of operations have switched over to beneficials and I don’t see that happening on a federal level. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it started happening on a state level, and growers stop using pesticides because they’re harmful to pollinators and they don’t want that residue on plants.
So, it might be an interesting shift we see in the next few years that more people start using beneficials.”
CEAg World: We saw that you hope to become a CEA professor while also contributing to horticulture through research. Can you tell us more about your future goals?
Rose Elbert: “I went to graduate school because I’m really interested in becoming a professor. I think teaching at the collegiate level and having access to high quality research facilities at a university would be a dream come true, because I’m very interested in performing research.
“I want to help people in the industry make the most profit and make the most out of their operations. I also want to share this passion with other students. And when you get to the collegiate level, a lot of people are there because they really want to be there, and they already have a passion for horticulture. I think helping people find what they’re meant to do in this industry would make me very happy.”
Editor’s note: This interview took place on August 22, 2024.