Posted: October 11, 2017

Dr. Bruce Bugbee's Seminar will be held on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 10:30am in 101 Agricultural Science & Industries Building, University Park Campus. His seminar is titled " Turning Photons into Food: on Earth and on Mars”, or “What Mark Watney Would Have Learned from a Horticulture Degree at Penn State.”

Dr. Bruce Bugbee

Dr. Bruce Bugbee

Dr. Bruce Bugbee is a Professor in the Plant, Soils, and Climate Department at Utah State University. He has received awards for his teaching, research, and mentoring, including the 2011 Governors Medal for Science and Technology. He is internationally known for this research with NASA, and is currently studying the use of fiber optics for light transmission to grow plants in space. He has participated in several studies on the International Space Station and was recently selected to be part of a multi-University NASA funded, life-support Institute. His work will better characterize plant growth and yield in the unique closed, regenerative environment of space, with emphasis on a Mars habitat.

He is also the founder of Apogee Instruments, a manufacturer of unique instrumentation used for precision irrigation scheduling, and measuring plant response to environmental effects. Apogee employs 35 full-time staff including eight scientists and engineers focused on new product development, with instrumentation distributed in 40 countries.