University of Wyoming Launches First CEA Course
August 8, 2024 The University of Wyoming (UW) launched its first controlled environment agriculture (CEA) course in the summer of 2024. Funded by the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIY), the class aimed to build a skilled CEA workforce in the state of Wyoming.
Faculty members from several departments across campus helped plan and teach lab activities for each class. This includes Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Botany, Plant Sciences, Family and Consumer Sciences, Accounting and Finance, the School of Computing, the Center for Blockchain as well as Digital Innovation and the Science Initiative.
Throughout the course, students gained first-hand experience in the CEA industry by growing plants in hydroponic vertical towers and using different soilless systems in UW’s Science Initiative greenhouses. To get even more real-world experience in a CEA setting, students interned at the Plenty facility in Laramie, Wyoming, where they met with research leaders and helped with the full production cycle of hydroponic produce.
Once they completed the course, several students were hired to work on CEA-related projects around campus. In addition, two Wyoming businesses have also expressed interested in two of the nine students who participated.
Carmela Rosario Guadagno, associate director of the UW CEA Center and director of the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility, directed the course this year and plans to again next summer. In 2025, the course will be open to community college students and play a role in other CEA efforts across campus.
To learn more about UW’s new CEA program, visit their website.