States court CEA business, education for economic development

Photo © 80 Acres Farms

With funding from the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), the University of Wyoming launched its first controlled environment agriculture class this summer. The new summer course offers a unique opportunity to start building a skilled workforce in CEA for the state of Wyoming.

“This course offered a multidisciplinary approach to the CEA industry, which is highly appealing for aspiring entrepreneurs like me,” says Romy Agrawal, a student in UW’s computer science master’s program.

The CEA course was coordinated by Carmela Rosaria Guadagno, associate director of the UW CEA Center and director of the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility. A team of faculty members from several departments — Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Botany, Plant Sciences, Family and Consumer Sciences, Accounting and Finance, as well as the School of Computing, the Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation and the Science Initiative — were involved in this summer’s class.

The class hosted lectures from UW faculty and staff members, Wyoming CEA business representatives and collaborating institutions. Students gained firsthand experience in CEA by following the growth of plants in hydroponic vertical towers, from seeding to harvesting, and deploying different kinds of soilless systems in UW’s Science Initiative greenhouses.

The class also partnered with Laramie, Wyoming-based Plenty, where the students were exposed to the entire production cycle of hydroponically grown produce and met with industry researchers during a two-week internship.

Nine undergraduates and one graduate student in fields from agricultural economics to petroleum engineering participated in the new course.

“We got a very diverse group of individuals that largely knew nothing about the industry or how their areas of study might be relevant,” says Mike Baldwin, facility manager for the Plant Growth and Phenotyping Facility, who served as co-instructor and lab coordinator for the course. “Coming out of it, more and more, the students are getting a feel for the diversity of jobs and roles within the industry, how these skill sets are applicable across the board.”

Sophomore Jack McKinley from the School of Energy Resources says, “With everything I’ve learned in this class, when I graduate, I will look for open positions with companies like Plenty, rather than just jobs in the energy sector.”

Two Wyoming businesses have expressed interest in hiring students who took the class.

Guadagno believes this course could expand Wyoming’s capacity to conduct cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research.

Vertical farms started in an industry from scratch 10 years ago, and if you look at how far we've come in the last 10 years, there's a lot to be really excited about. Our harvest yield has increased at a 70% compound annual growth rate over the last five years on an annual basis. And our grow zones are 50% more efficient than they were when we started. ... As pioneers, we've had the time and the capital to build these relationships and build these operations." - Jed Lynch, CFO, 80 Acres Farms at Indoor AgTech's Innovation Summit

“The class actually made the students feel different, not just about CEA, but about Wyoming and potential job opportunities in the state,” she says.

Guadagno and her fellow collaborators plan to teach the course again next summer and integrate it with other CEA efforts around campus. The course will be open to community college students as part of WIP program efforts to support Wyoming workforce development in CEA.

WIP was created in 2021 to modernize and focus Wyoming’s efforts to develop a resilient workforce and economy. The effort aims to better align Wyoming’s economic development agenda by increasing collaborations between state entities and ultimately local partners. The partnership involves the University of Wyoming, the state’s community colleges, Wyoming Business Council, Department of Workforce Services and Wyoming Department of Education, with an emphasis on developing innovative solutions that support and enhance Wyoming’s economy, workforce and sources of revenue. Phase three of WIP includes more than $1 million in funding with a focus on CEA, precision ag and ranch management.

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