VANCOUVER, BC, March 18, 2021 /CNW/ - CubicFarm® Systems
Corp. (TSXV: CUB) ("CubicFarms" or the "Company"), a local
chain agricultural technology company, today announced the
appointment of a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to guide and
advise CubicFarms.
The SAB is comprised of top experts in the fields of agriculture
and technology. The SAB is primarily responsible for making
recommendations to the Company's senior leadership team regarding
research and development priorities. By combining the substantial
expertise of the SAB with the expertise of the Company's internal
research and development (R&D) team, CubicFarms is well
positioned for advancements in ag-tech.
"We're proud to have an accomplished and diverse group of
scientific and research experts as the members of our Scientific
Advisory Board," said Dave Dinesen, CEO, CubicFarms. "This
world-class team of scientific advisors bring their significant
knowledge and expertise in land use, controlled-environment
agriculture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation,
and data analysis. They understand the complexities of navigating
issues like food waste, and they're committed to finding solutions
to the real-world problems of food scarcity and food security. This
will significantly contribute to our local chain ag-tech solution
to convert the industry's traditionally long and unsustainable food
supply chains."
Inaugural members of the SAB include:
Dr. Lenore
Newman (SAB Chair) — Director of the Food and
Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley (UVF)
where she holds a Canada Research Chair in Food Security and
Environment. She's an associate professor in the department of
geography and the environment at UFV and is a member of the Royal
Society of Canada's New College.
She holds a PhD in Environmental Studies from Toronto's York
University and has published over 50 academic journal
articles and book chapters. Dr. Newman research includes
agricultural land use policy, agricultural technologies, and
bioengineering in the food system. She was a member of the
British Columbia Premier's Food
Security Task Force, sat on the B.C. Minister of Agriculture's
Advisory Committee on Revitalizing the Agricultural Land Reserve,
and regularly speaks to government and community groups. Her first
book, Speaking in Cod Tongues, was published to wide
acclaim in 2017 and won a Saskatchewan Book Award. Her second
book, Lost Feast, was published by ECW Press in 2019,
was awarded silver in the 2019 Forward INDIES, and was the winner
of a Canadian Science Writers Award.
Dr. Tammara Soma — Dr. Soma MCIP RPP is an Assistant
Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Management
(Planning program) at Simon Fraser
University and Research Director of the Food Systems Lab.
Originally hailing from Indonesia,
she conducts research on issues pertaining to food loss and waste,
food system planning, food access, and the circular
economy. Dr. Soma is the Co-editor of the Routledge
Handbook of Food Waste, and co-founder of the International
Food Loss and Food Waste Studies group, a global network of food
loss and waste researchers and practitioners. Dr. Soma was selected
as a committee member of the U.S. National Academies of Science and
co-authored the consensus study A National Strategy to Reduce
Consumer Food Waste. She is registered professional planner
(RPP) and holds a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners
(MCIP) designation.
Dr. Laila Benkrima — Director of LB Plant Biosciences
Research and Consulting Inc. at Simon Fraser University. Dr.
Benkrima has extensive experience in research, training, and
teaching horticulture techniques and as a crop consultant to
greenhouse and farming operators. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant
Biology and Master of Science Degree in Plant Physiology from the
University of Paris, France. She
has been responsible for the planning, development and creative
problem solving of various projects from plant micropropagation and
functional/medicinal crop cultivation to hydroponics and laboratory
design. Dr. Benkrima works as an independent consultant for
companies in the agricultural, horticultural, and nutraceutical
sectors. She has experience in advising various types of
agriculture, horticulture and biotechnology related projects in
commercial production, and resource development. She's identified
and recommended potential market opportunities, product line
expansions, new product development and recently assigned patents
for many BC companies. Dr. Benkrima provides specific experience in
working with micropropagation, a technique widely regarded as the
preferred option for large-scale commercialization of many
economically important crops.
Dr. Evan Fraser —
Professor Evan Fraser, PhD, is a
full professor at the University of
Guelph, the Director of the Arrell Food Institute, a Fellow
of the Trudeau Foundation, and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian
Geographic Society. Dr. Fraser helps lead the Food from
Thought initiative, which is a $76.6 million research program based at the
University of Guelph exploring how to
use big data to reduce agriculture's environmental footprint. He
works with large multi-disciplinary teams on developing solutions
to help feed the world's growing population. He co-chairs the
Arrell Food Summit and manages the Arrell Food Scholarship program,
as well as the Arrell Food Innovation Awards that deliver hundreds
of thousands of dollars annually to groups that have made
tremendous impacts on global food systems. As a researcher,
Dr. Fraser is a co-author on over 100 academic papers and book
chapters and played a leadership role in teams that have raised
over $100M in research funding. Dr.
Fraser's non-fiction book Empires of Food: Feast, Famine
and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations was shortlisted for
the James Beard Food Literature Award. His web video series on
"feeding nine billion" has been watched over 500,000 times; he has
self-published a graphic novel #FoodCrisis about a
fictitious food crisis that hits North
America in the 2020s; and he created a card game about
global food security that won a gold medal at the International
"Serious Play" conference.
In addition to these members, the SAB will also include current
leadership from CubicFarms including Leo
Benne, Founder of CubicFarms; Tim
Fernback, Chief Financial Officer, CubicFarms; and
Edoardo De Martin, Chief Technology
Officer, CubicFarms.
"The caliber of the SAB members speaks to our commitment to
scientifically rigorous R&D for our commercial scale indoor
growing technologies. With the support of our Scientific Advisory
Board, our efforts will continue to advance our fresh food
production in the CubicFarm System as well as fresh livestock feed
in our HydroGreen Grow System. We need the best and brightest in
the industry working together to solve food security issues. I'm
confident this team will provide innovative and educated
recommendations that will evolve our technologies and transform
agriculture and food production globally," added Dinesen.
About CubicFarms
CubicFarms is a local chain, agricultural technology company
developing and deploying technology to feed a changing world. Its
proprietary ag-tech solutions enable growers to produce high
quality, predictable produce and fresh livestock feed with
HydroGreen Nutrition Technology, a division of CubicFarm Systems
Corp. The CubicFarms™ system contains patented technology for
growing leafy greens and other crops onsite, indoors, all year
round. CubicFarms provides an efficient, localized food supply
solution that benefits our people, planet, and economy.
For more information, please visit www.cubicfarms.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
CubicFarm Systems Corp.
"Dave Dinesen"
Dave Dinesen, Chief Executive Officer
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forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to,
comments that involve future events and conditions, which are
subject to various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual
results may vary materially from those statements. General business
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materially from forward-looking statements.
SOURCE CubicFarm Systems Corp.
