Plant science center continues mission to take ag to next level
ST. LOUIS — Though many farmers may not be familiar with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the work done here doubtless impacts their livelihood in some way.
Located in suburban St. Louis and founded in 1998, it is the largest nonprofit plant science center in the world. Physically, it is several buildings spread over 40 acres with nearly 300,000 square feet of research and development space, including 54,000 square feet of greenhouses and 82 climate-controlled growth centers. The Danforth Center employs 350 people and has an annual budget of $30 million, with an endowment of $300 million.
Research at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is augmented with an industrial-scale X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) that allows companies to see roots in detail.
Photo courtesy Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
ST. LOUIS — The Danforth Plant Science Center, along with BRDG Park, has enabled Mike DeCamp to get a foothold in his business.
DeCamp, chief operating officer of the startup CoverCress, is one of more than a dozen firms that have taken up residence in BRDG Park, a plant science incubator connected to the Danforth Center. The resources available to the company’s scientists are a godsend, he said.
ST. LOUIS — Some key relationships among companies sharing space at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are made in the lunchroom.
“That’s the coolest benefit,” said Matt Helms of NewLeaf Symbiotics. “This woman with a PhD literally connected with a professor with the dirt lab in the cafeteria. It’s a networking campus.”
Yield Lab founder continues to pursue plant advancement
Thad Simons has taken a circuitous agricultural journey, from Georgia farms to Europe and finally to St. Louis.
The Georgia native began his international career with a law degree from the University of Georgia. Simons also has degrees from Columbia University in New York and the College of Sorbonne in Paris.
Attorney: Patenting inventions doesn’t have to be daunting
The agricultural world is full of inventors and entrepreneurs, but for those who wish to patent their inventions, the process can sometimes be daunting.
It doesn’t have to be that way, according to Kirk Hartung, an intellectual property attorney with the law firm of McKee, Voorhees & Sease in Des Moines.
