Smart Lighting and Bug Battles: Inside the World of High-Tech Greenhouses

Learn about how fruits and vegetables are grown in high-tech greenhouses year-round in Ontario. We will discuss state-of-the-art technologies, including advanced lighting and pest management techniques using natural enemies.

Dr. Fadi Al-Daoud and Cara McCreary

Dr. Fadi Al-Daoud is the greenhouse vegetable specialist at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. His portfolio includes fruits and vegetables grown in controlled environments, such as greenhouses and vertical farms. After earning his doctorate from the Department of Biology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada with a specialization in molecular plant pathology, Fadi worked at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph. He has over 20 years of experience conducting applied and fundamental research on horticultural and field crops, and communicating his research to the scientific community and agricultural producers. Today, he collaborates with producers, researchers, and industry to advance controlled environment agriculture in Ontario.

Cara McCreary is the Greenhouse Vegetable IPM Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) and is working out of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Harrow Research & Development Centre. Cara joined the ministry in January 2015 from a position as a Research Associate in the Edible Bean Program at the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. Prior to joining the University of Guelph, Cara was the Acting Field Crop Entomologist at OMAFA. She also has several years of experience as a greenhouse scout and supervisor, and as a horticultural advisor. Cara has a Master of Science in Environmental Biology from the University of Guelph, a Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration from the University of Windsor, and an Associate Diploma in Horticulture from the University of Guelph. During her master’s degree, she studied the life cycle, temperature-dependent development and economic impact of an agricultural pest, the bean leaf beetle. In her current role with the ministry, Cara has worked extensively on emerging pest issues, such as pepper weevil and tomato brown rugose fruit virus. Pest management has been her focus and passion through both work experience and education.