Speakers – Indiana Horticulture Conference and Expo

Matt Kleinhenz

Excerpt: Dr. Kleinhenz is a Professor and Extension Specialist in the Dept. of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University (OSU) operating from the OSU CFAES Wooster Campus. Matt also served as a Crops Specialist with Univ of Maine Cooperative Extension before joining The OSU in 1998. Matt collaborates with many to develop research-based >>> Read More.

Joe McGuire

Excerpt: CEO Pure Green Farms, South Bend >>> Read More.

Madison Mehringer

Excerpt: “Madison Mehringer earned her bachelor’s degree in Food Science from Purdue University, with minors in Fermentation Science and Horticulture. She has worked with multiple companies in the food and agricultural fields including creating a sanitation verification system in tomato manufacturing facilities, flavor analysis and sensory testing, and dairy manufacturing pH developmental analysis in cheese products. >>> Read More.

Tim Woods

Excerpt: Tim Woods is an Extension Professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Agricultural Economics. Dr. Woods manages studies of Kentucky Consumer households and carries out a variety of Farmer’s market, small producer as well as industry wide studies. He established the MarketReady Producer Training Program to assist producers and manufacturers in preparing to enter or expand into >>> Read More.

Miranda Purcell

Jean Pierre Zavala

Excerpt: Jean Pierre Zavala, a graduate student at Purdue’s Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department, focuses on the economic feasibility of pest management strategies for specialty crops in high tunnels within urban and peri-urban areas. Holding a BS in Agribusiness Management and an MBA, he brings six years of experience serving the Government of Ecuador in agricultural >>> Read More.

Beth Hall

Excerpt: Dr. Beth Hall became the new Indiana State Climatologist on 1 March 2019. With over 25 years of experience in climate services, she is looking forward to coming back to the state where she began her education in atmospheric science to better serve the climate needs of stakeholders across the state. She began her career >>> Read More.

Lian Durón

Excerpt: Lian Durón is a MS student in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University. Her research focuses on developing strategies to maintain quality during long-term storage of strawberry rooted and unrooted runner tips. She also conducts research evaluating light intensities for indoor propagation of strawberry liners. Lian was born in Honduras and >>> Read More.

Sofía Gómez

Excerpt: Sofía Gómez is currently pursuing a MS in horticulture at Purdue University, where she is evaluating how different environmental factors affect water loss of unrooted cuttings. She is interested in understanding how environmental factors in the growing environment can be managed to optimize crop production. Sofía is particularly passionate about helping growers in the young-plant >>> Read More.

Don Lamb

Excerpt: Don Lamb is the Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, appointed by Governor Eric Holcomb on March 1, 2023. He also serves as the Director of Agribusiness Development for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, reports directly to Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch, who serves as Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development and serves >>> Read More.

Perry Kirkham

Excerpt: Perry Kirkham received his BS from Purdue in Biology/Chemistry Education. After 5 years as a teacher he returned to school to get his Ph.D. in immunology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. After research positions at various places around the world, he returned to Lafayette in 2007 to work at Purdue. With his wife >>> Read More.

Dennis R. Buckmaster

Excerpt: Dr. Dennis R. Buckmaster is a Professor in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Dean’s Fellow for Digital Agriculture at Purdue University. He was an Assistant Dean in Academic Programs prior to the Digital Agriculture post. Dennis’ early career work at Penn State and Purdue involved research emphasis in forage systems and horticultural mechanization and teaching >>> Read More.

Scott Monroe

Excerpt: Scott Monroe, an Indiana native, is the sixth generation in his family to be involved in vegetable production and spent most of his youth working in his family’s watermelon fields. He attended both Vincennes and Purdue Universities, earning degrees in Agriculture, Horticultural Science, and Plant Pathology. Scott has worked in various capacities in the produce >>> Read More.

Renee Wiatt

Excerpt: Renee Wiatt serves as the Family Business Management Specialist for the Purdue Institute for Family Business housed in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. She works on Extension and applied research in family-business interface and balance, succession, and family business management. She is a member of the Purdue Extension Succession Planning Team, working >>> Read More.

Dr. Ariana Torres

Excerpt: Dr. Torres’ research focuses on the decision-making processes of specialty crop farmers along with customers’ perceptions and preferences. Her expertise includes the economic modeling of adoption of new technologies, the development of decision-making tools for specialty crop growers, and the economic impact of growers decision-making processes. Her research provides relevant research-based information to her extension >>> Read More.

Dr. Stephen Meyers

Excerpt: Dr. Meyers joined the faculty in the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture as an Assistant Professor in August 2019. He conducts research in weed biology, weed-crop interactions, herbicide tolerance, and integrated weed management strategies and provides the state’s specialty crop producers with timely, research-based weed management recommendations. Before returning to Purdue he >>> Read More.

Dr. Laura Ingwell

Excerpt: Dr. Laura L. Ingwell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. Her primary role is an Extension Specialist of Pest Management in Horticultural Crops. Dr. Ingwell’s research focuses on watermelon, sweet corn, and pest management on specialty crops grown in protected environments. >>> Read More.

Dr. Elizabeth Long

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Excerpt: Dr. Elizabeth Long is an assistant professor of Entomology at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, IN with research and extension efforts focused on the integrated pest management of pest and beneficial insects in horticultural crop production systems. Prior to joining Purdue University, Dr. Long was an assistant professor at Ohio State, focusing on insect management >>> Read More.

Dr. Krishna Nemali

Excerpt: Krishna Nemali is an Associate Professor with extension, research, and teaching related to Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). The goal of his extension program is to increase the knowledge, decision-making ability, and income of CEA growers, and engage with schools and home growers to translate the benefits of CEA to the community. In his applied research, >>> Read More.

Dr. Wenjing Guan

Excerpt: Wenjing Guan is a horticultural specialist at Purdue University. She conducts applied research in commercial vegetable production, focusing on watermelon, cantaloupe, as well as season extension of diverse vegetables using different plastic cultural systems. Her specialty is vegetable grafting, a technique used on tomato, cucumber, watermelon and cantaloupe for improving crops’ tolerance to abiotic and >>> Read More.

Tari Gary

Excerpt: Tari Gary is the Extension Administrator in the Food Science Department at Purdue University. Tari obtained her BS in food science from Purdue and subsequently worked as a food safety manager at a bakery manufacturing facility. Tari began working with the Safe Produce IN program in 2019 as the Food Safety Outreach Coordinator at ISDA, >>> Read More.

Dr. Amanda Deering

Excerpt: Amanda Deering earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and master’s degree in plant biology from Central Michigan University. She completed her Ph.D. at Purdue University in food microbiology and food safety specializing in fresh produce food safety. Her research focuses on examining internalization of human pathogenic bacteria in plants, as well as routes of contamination >>> Read More.

Dr. Peter Hirst

Dr. Elizabeth T Maynard

Excerpt: Dr. Liz Maynard serves as an Extension specialist for vegetable crops in Purdue’s Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. She spends most of her time developing educational programs and conducting applied research to support sustainable vegetable farming. Her office is in Valparaiso and research trials are at the Pinney Purdue Ag Center in Wanatah, Indiana. >>> Read More.

Dr. Petrus Langenhoven

Excerpt: Dr. Petrus Langenhoven is a Horticulture and Hydroponics Crops Specialist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. He joined the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture in March 2015. Prior to this, he dedicated his career to the development of Sub-Saharan Africa’s specialty crops sector. With specialization in hydroponics and vegetable crop production, Dr. Langenhoven >>> Read More.