​Meet the presenters   

John Sanderson has been a professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University for over 30 years.  He has research/extension responsibilities for arthropod pest management on greenhouse crops, with an emphasis on biological and integrated control.  He has done research on every serious greenhouse pest and most of the predators, parasitoids, and pathogens used against them.  John has given numerous talks at many of the major national and regional greenhouse grower conferences, and published articles in major trade magazines.  His primary goal is to help growers accomplish cost-effective, sustainable management of the pests that plague greenhouse crops.

Ronald Valentin was born in the heart of the greenhouse industry in the Netherlands. His family owned a greenhouse operation and his father started using biological control in 1971. At a very young age Ronald developed an interest for the “bugs” and as a teenager he was managing and producing the biological control agents for the family greenhouse operation. After finishing his education in crop protection management, biochemistry, and vegetable production at State Secondary College of Agriculture in De Lier the Netherland, he embarked on a career in biological control in 1986. After working in biological control technical support in the Netherlands and several other European countries, he came to Canada for his first visit in 1996. After traveling to Canada once every 6 to 7 weeks in 1996 and 1997 he immigrated to Canada in December 1997. In March 2004 he became a Canadian Citizen. Over the years Ronald has worked with many growers to set up sustainable and effective pest management programs with as a focus to use BCA’s as a first line of defense. He also has trained and managed technical support teams in Europe, Canada, and the USA. Ronald is currently Director of Technical Business, BCA at BioWorks, out of Victor, NY. Ronald is very passionate about making an IPM and biological control approach work for every grower as well as reducing the use of pesticides for the better of the environment and the future.

Suzanne Wainwright-Evans is a horticultural entomologist specializing in integrated pest management. Suzanne has been involved in the Green Industry for more than 25 years with a primary focus on biological control and using pesticides properly. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with degrees in both Entomology and Environmental Horticulture. Suzanne is the owner of Buglady Consulting, now in business for over 20 years providing expert horticultural entomological consulting and seminars to commercial growers.  All client recommendations are made to promote the health of plants while being ecologically minded. The full use of natural and reduced risk pesticides, organic and cultural control practices and methods are used while focusing on biological control.

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

Exhibit space and sponsorship opportunities are available. Learn more or reserve your space here.  Contact Karen Forbes at [email protected].  The full program is posted on the NEGC website.  Attendee registration is open in August.

Meet the presenters: 

Amanda Thomsen is a horticulturist, garden designer, keynote speaker, freelance writer, backyard consultant, and author living in suburban Chicago.  Amanda wants to help the world live more sustainably (but without a load of effort and twice the fun!). Amanda has been working in gardens, garden centers and landscaping for the last 20 years. Her focus is bringing rule-breaking fun, a little kitsch, and a lot of humor into an industry that is often thought of as stodgy and full of rules.  Amanda speaks and gives classes at all-sized events throughout the United States.

Gerson “Gary” Cortes has 36 years of Lean Flow Manufacturing experience includes actual implementations in factories where he worked at as well as guiding Lean Flow implementations in companies around the world. In 1998 Gary, with three other partners founded FlowVision, LLC, - The Lean Business & Supply Chain Consulting Group. He has implemented in companies that produce as few as 1 product a day in the semiconductor capital equipment industry to as many as 20 billion coins a year at the US Mint. Gary’s experience ranges from high tech, high volume to machine intensive, low volume, make to order industries. 

Sue Adams is vice-president of Adams Greenhouses, a five-acre operation in Poughkeepsie, NY. Their largest account is the family's four garden centers which they supply with over four million garden plants. Sue works closely with Adams' marketing department, creating special promotions, brochures, and website information. She is an award-winning container designer, graduate of Cornell University, serves on the New England Floriculture Board and is president of New York State Flower Industries. She is speaking for her company's merchandises who love talking to customers but are too shy to speak in front of a group. 

Dan Snyder is the Recruiting and Training Coordinator for a family-owned business of over 1300 employees, Adams Fairacre Farms. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from SUNY Oneonta while working at Adams throughout his college education.  When Dan graduated, he accepted an IT position with Adams to begin his professional career. After a year of working in IT, Dan transferred to HR as the Training Coordinator, eventually taking on Recruitment and has been doing so for the past six years.

John Kennedy presents to the green industry at a local, state, national and international level on all aspects of business—Customer Experience, Strategic & Succession Planning, Team Alignment, Productivity & Profitability, and Creating a Culture of Measurement & Metrics.  His consulting work has him in high demand among progressive companies and associations in North America, Australia, and the Caribbean… along with dozens of associations, garden centers, growers, and landscapers in the green industry.  Visit John on-line at www.johnkennedyconsulting.com to get a closer look at his topics, videos, and clients. 

The biennial Northeast Greenhouse Conference & Expo is co-sponsored by New England Floriculture, Inc. - a group of grower representatives from the Northeast, augmented by University and Cooperative Extension staff in each state who specialize in greenhouse crops and management. 

Exhibit space and sponsorship opportunities are available. Learn more or reserve your space here.  Contact Karen Forbes at [email protected].  The full program will be posted on the NEGC website in August.    Attendee registration will also open in August.