Indoor Ag-Con announces opening day keynote and scholarship winner

Indoor Ag-Con has announced its opening day keynote as well as the recipient of the 2026 Sollum Student Scholarship for the 13th annual event Feb. 11-12, 2026, at the Westgate Las Vegas.

The opening keynote, titled "CEA Alliance Insights on the State of the Industry," will feature a candid, global discussion with indoor growers examining the realities, challenges and opportunities shaping the sector today. Moderated by Tom Stenzel, executive director of the CEA Alliance, the keynote is scheduled for Feb. 11 at 8 a.m.

Speakers include senior executives from indoor farming operations spanning multiple commodities and regions, including North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Keynote panelists include:

• Dane Almassy, chief commercial officer, Local Bounti
• Aaron Fields, CEO, Campo Caribe
• Jesper Hansen, chief commercial officer, YesHealth Group
• Josh McClung, chief operating officer, Cox Farms

“Controlled environment agriculture is at an important inflection point,” said Brian Sullivan, CEO of Indoor Ag-Con. “This opening day keynote brings together experienced operators who are navigating today’s market conditions in real time. Their perspectives — grounded in global operations and hard-won lessons — will set the tone for two days of practical, forward-looking dialogue at Indoor Ag-Con 2026.”

Stenzel added: “Growers across the world are adapting to tighter capital, evolving markets and rising expectations around efficiency and sustainability. This keynote is designed to offer an honest assessment of where the industry stands today and what operators are doing to position themselves for long-term success.”

Indoor Ag-Con’s day two headliner at 8 a.m. Feb. 12 is "The State of CEA Finance: Capital Flows, Discipline and Lessons Learned," featuring Dave Chen, CEO of Equilibrium Capital, and David Verbitsky, president and managing director of Verbitsky Capital.

Together, the two keynote sessions anchor Indoor Ag-Con 2026’s expanded educational program, which now features 11 crop-and sector-specific tracks covering everything from lettuce and herbs, vine crops, berries, mushrooms and cannabis to food safety, conventional agriculture and emerging approaches to CEA.

In addition to the conference program, attendees will explore an expo floor filled with technologies and solutions from across the supply chain, along with networking opportunities designed to connect growers, operators, suppliers, investors and researchers.

Indoor Ag-Con and Sollum Technologies student scholarship

Indoor Ag-Con and Sollum Technologies also announced Karli Barton, an environmental science master's student at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, as the recipient of the 2026 Sollum Student Scholarship to Indoor Ag-Con.

The scholarship supports emerging leaders in CEA by providing a fully funded opportunity to attend the event.

Scholarship benefits include:

• A full-access conference pass to the event
• Round-trip airfare (coach)
• A two-night hotel stay (room and tax)
• A daily per diem allowance
• Scheduled one-on-one meeting time with the Sollum Technologies team in their expo booth
• An opportunity to film a short video interview recapping their experience and learnings from the show, to be featured by both Indoor Ag-Con and Sollum Technologies across digital channels

Barton is a second-year master's of environmental science student at the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on the intersection of advanced LED lighting strategies and sustainable pest management in controlled environment strawberry production.

A key component of her work examines how dynamic lighting regimes — such as blue-light night interruption and continuous lighting — affect the performance of biological control agents used to manage aphid pests.

Before beginning graduate studies, Barton spent nearly a decade working in integrated pest management roles across both field and controlled environment systems, including six years as a biocontrol consultant supporting commercial greenhouse operations.

Her research aims to help growers adopt innovative lighting technologies without compromising the effectiveness of biological pest control, bridging scientific research with practical, on-farm decision-making.

“Supporting emerging researchers like Karli is critical to the future of controlled environment agriculture,” said Jenny Zammit, vice president of marketing and customer success at Sollum Technologies. “Her work reflects exactly what this scholarship was designed to encourage — rigorous, applied research that helps growers integrate new technologies in a sustainable and practical way.”

“Indoor Ag-Con is proud to partner with Sollum Technologies to provide meaningful opportunities for students who are shaping the future of indoor agriculture,” Sullivan added. “Karli’s background and research exemplify the kind of industry-connected innovation we aim to support through this scholarship.”

For more information or to register for Indoor Ag-Con, visit indoor.ag.