Lab Members

Krishna Nemali

Dr. Nemali has responsibility for extension and research activities related to controlled environment agriculture which includes ornamentals and vegetables grown under protected culture. He also teaches courses related to controlled environment agriculture production and technology.  A primary goal of his program at Purdue is to develop new and affordable technologies that improve sustainability (i.e., reduce input waste, minimize environmental impact, and increase profits) in controlled environment agriculture and make them easily available to growers.  He aims to train students with sustainable production practices that are complemented with state of the art technologies for controlled environments.  He is passionate about actively engaging and contributing to the existing diversity programs at Purdue.

Link to faculty page

Graduate Students

Ranjita Adhikari (Ph.D. Student)

I received a Master’s degree in Horticulture Science from Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidhyapeeth, India. For my Master’s research, I worked with watermelon to optimize the nitrogen fertilizers for newly released hybrids. Then I served in SAHAS Nepal, a NGO to demonstrate and evaluate different sustainable agricultural technologies for developing countries focusing mainly on green house and waste water utilization technologies. I am interested in the field of controlled environment agriculture to develop new sustainable technologies suitable for improving the performance of off season cultivation of crops. I am specifically interested to optimize the resources (micro and macro-nutrients, water, and light) in controlled environment conditions like greenhouse, aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics as a means for developing sustainable agricultural production system.   (Link to Adhikari_CV)

Yuyao Kong (M.S. Student)

 I completed my M.S. at China Agricultural University, majoring in agricultural engineering. The research during my MS involved developing an indoor hydroponic  container with environmental control system. I also participated in several research projects about environment   control in greenhouses.  I am interested in the research related to vertical farms and hydroponics. I am much interested in the area of using suitable sensor technologies and systems to control and manage the environmental based on the crop growth rates to reduce energy input and cost. (Link to Yuyao resume) 

     Jacob Brasseur (Undergraduate Researcher) 2020

Past Members:

Graduate Students:

Alexander G. Miller (M.S. Student)

Alexander Gresham Miller was raised in the north central town of Goshen, Indiana. Growing up in the rural area, Alex was surrounded by mostly farmland and neighborhoods. Growing up in the secluded town he was better able to develop an interest in agriculture and nature. In his free time, Alex enjoying taking care of his collection of plants and getting outside whenever possible. Alex also is very active in the Purdue Horticulture Society on the Executive board as the Director of Special events and Co-chairman for Springfest. He is currently in his Senior year pursuing a degree in Plant Science from Purdue University, College of Agriculture. This degree includes minors in Crop Science and Plant Biology. Alex has worked as a laboratory assistant for the past two years in various labs in both Botany and Horticulture to widen his experience in both disciplines. Currently Alex working under Dr. Krishna Nemali, experimenting with the use of cameras in a greenhouse environment.  (Link to Miller resume)

Visiting Scientists & Students

1. Reham Mohamed (Scientist, Plant Protection Research Institute, Giza, Egypt (2018)
2. Cheng Li (M.S. student, China Agriculture University, China  (2019)

Undergraduate Researchers

1. Juliana Brustolin (2018-20)
2. Ajay Nemali (volunteer, 2018)
3. Farhan Sohail (2018)
4. Manuel Perez (2019)
5. Daniel Benjamin (2019)