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About Us

Mission
Our Mission
The Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center is a joint project between Virginia Tech, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), and industry that is working to advance the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) sector in Virginia, the U.S., and internationally through leveraging our collective resources, skills, and expertise by addressing the needs of the industry with our research, education, and extension programs.
Vision
Our Vision
The vision of the CEA Innovation Center is to build meaningful industry and academic collaborations, conduct outstanding research to address knowledge gaps, develop and provide excellent training materials and programs, provide undergraduate and graduate student education, and support entrepreneurs in the controlled environment agriculture sector.
History
The Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Innovation Center is a partnership between the Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), and the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center. It was established in 2019 to leverage technology and research to accelerate advancements, economic development, and regional participation in the growing CEA industry. Virginia has a rich history of greenhouse crop production, and the state continues to build an ecosystem that promotes the growing CEA industry to support CEA producers and suppliers ranging in size.
About
About Us

The CEA Innovation Center is primarily housed in Danville, VA on the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research campus in a modern greenhouse complex and vertical farm. Research and collaborators of the CEA Innovation Center are located around the state including on the Virginia Tech main campus in Blacksburg, VA. The CEA Innovation Center brings together industry, government, and academia as a demonstration site, agricultural technology training center, and research hub for CEA. Research, education, training programs, and resources range in topics that include nutrient management of CEA crops, biological controls, biostimulants, computer vision, robotics, and aquaponics.

Specific goals of the CEA Innovation Center include:

  • Serve as an information center for the controlled environment agriculture industry in Virginia, the U.S., and internationally through conferences; in-person and online training programs; educational videos, articles, and blogs; demonstration farm tours; and listings of available resources.
  • Build and maintain outstanding research programs that identify and address the needs of the CEA industry.
  • Provide excellent graduate and undergraduate training for students in controlled environment agriculture including horticulture, plant sciences, microbiology, computer vision and robotics, and other related topics.

Take a Video Tour and Meet Some of Our Team

Hear from the CEA Innovation Center founders and see the Danville facilities.

Take a Video Tour and Meet Some of Our Team

Hear from the CEA Innovation Center founders and see the Danville facilities.
Collaborators
Our Collaborators
Our Impact

Check out news stories about the CEA Innovation Center and its collaborators.

CEA Innovation Center in the News
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Research
Current Research
The CEA Innovation Center researchers are working to address the needs of the CEA industry. Research topics include nutrient management, robotics, sensors, imaging, endophytes, biological control, biostimulants, aquaponics, cultivar trials, and flavor analysis.
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Education
Extension Programming
The CEA Innovation Center offers a range of informational resources, workshops, conferences, demonstration site tours, and more. This includes the CEA Summit East – a conference and networking event hosted in collaboration with Indoor Ag-Con.
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The Team
Our Team

Scott Lowman, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center Vice President, Applied Research, Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

Michael Evans, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center Professor, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Michael Schwarz, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center Director, Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Tech

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150 Slayton Avenue
Danville, Va 24540
(434) 766-6700
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