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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
“Bringing students into this ecosystem for impactful employment opportunities fits the mission of the CEA Innovation Center and will contribute to the growth of the CEA workforce.”
Dr. Scott LowmanVice President, Applied Research at IALR and Co-Director of the CEA Innovation Center
“My favorite part [as an undergraduate research technician] has been seeing the progress of the plants daily. Watching them start as little seeds and then grow into some pretty big plants is very cool.”
Jacob HaymoreUndergraduate Research Technician with the CEA Innovation Center
“We are delighted that the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research and Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have combined their expertise to create a top program in controlled environment agriculture. This collaborative effort is creating tremendous energy and excitement because of its potential to provide innovative solutions to the agricultural community."
Dr. Alan GrantFormer Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
“The collaboration between Canon Virginia, IALR, and Virginia Tech is important to CVI to advance the development of a plant monitoring system to be used by the growers in all areas of agriculture. "
Benjamin WelchPrincipal Engineer, Business Development Division, CVI
“I greatly value the opportunity to work with esteemed experts in this up-and-coming field. The CEA Innovation Center is laying the groundwork for the future; I want to be inspired, to try and mirror that body and ethic of work at Ferrum College. So many stakeholders benefit – firstly my students, but also the community at-large, including teachers seeking a year-round plant curriculum, and farmers eyeing a CEA pivot.”
Dr. Tim DurhamAssociate Professor of Crop Science, Ferrum College
“We’re proud to see the CEA Summit East improve year after year. The diversity of expertise represented here is impressive, and it’s a testament to the collaborative nature of this growing sector.”
Brian SullivanCEO of Indoor Ag-Con
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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.

Learn More

Extension & 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.

Learn More
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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