OASIS BIOTECH, PLANT SCIENCE R&D MANAGER

Las Vegas, NV – December 2018 to Current

▪        Proposed and championed company wide labor study to determine true OpX cost across farming operations, in order to determine biggest areas for labor improvement strategies.

▪        Demonstrated proof of concept to eliminate germination stage of crops, resulting in healthier seedlings, larger root mass, and a stronger plant that can withstand multiple harvests.

▪        Designed, executed and analyzed nearly 2 dozen concurrent studies to determine best varieties, harvesting techniques, transplant staging and airflow technologies.

LOCAL ROOTS FARMS, SENIOR PRODUCTION MANAGER

Los Angeles, CA – January 2018 to September 2018

▪        Developed Standard Operating Procedures to train up to 40 employees on indoor farming techniques including seeding, transplanting, harvesting, and packaging

▪        Directed three production managers and 34 associates across two facilities to ensure product quality and process conformance (HACCP documentation)

▪        Built the production forecast, crop rotation to ensure 24/7 maximum farm output, and production schedule reports utilized by executive management each week

▪        Worked closely with prototype and electrical engineering teams to provide immediate feedback on new designs, farm upgrades and changes in coding/firmware which resulted in higher yields and smoother process flow

LOCAL ROOTS FARMS, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Los Angeles, CA – July 2017 to December 2017

▪        Designed and executed three R&D experiments in eight-week cycles to test new product ideas. Assessed crop health of up to 12 different cultivars, analyzed this data, and presented it to the product development team to make informed cultivar selections and product specification decisions

▪        Implemented weekly organoleptic panels to collect consumer feedback; analyzed and presented this data to the product development team to select R&D cultivars for commercialization

▪        Executed commercial R&D experiments for new cultivars and new lighting designs within a commercial setting, to determine feasibility of cost of goods sold before bringing a new product to market

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Tucson, AZ – August 2015 to December 2016

▪        Programmed and calibrated thermocouples to measure air temperature, soil temperature and relative humidity in a controlled strawberry greenhouse in order to determine impact of microclimates on pollination 

▪        Gathered data such as DLI, PAR, transpiration rate, osmotic potential, brix, EC/pH and analyzed these numbers to look for environmental trends that could affect salinity tolerance in various head lettuce cultivars

VILLAGE NURSERIES, GREENHOUSE ASSOCIATE TEAM LEAD

Surprise, AZ – May 2008 to May 2013

▪        Led a five-person team in propagating woody shrubs, cacti, and arid trees suited for the desert environment and carried out daily greenhouse tasks like scouting for insect damage or irrigation failures