Published on 10/08/2022
It is not the first time we have written about Cultivators’ new talents, who started as interns at the company. This article will introduce you to our latest intern, Kjell Sneeuw. Kjell is a 23-year-old Master’s student at Wageningen University and Research (WUR), originally from Amsterdam.
Kjell was first introduced to plant science during high school, as he does not have a family involved with agriculture. He began a Bachelor’s degree in Plant Sciences, following a recommendation from his high school biology teacher. Kjell then wrote a thesis on far-red light and its effects on the defence against aphids. Afterwards, he started his Master’s degree at WUR in Plant Sciences, specialising in Greenhouse Horticulture. He wrote his graduation thesis on the effects of far-red radiation on the growth and development of cannabis. As the final part of his studies, he is currently undertaking an internship at Cultivators. During this internship, he explores the possibility of increasing the rooting success rate of stem cuttings by adjusting the quality of light.
Kjell first connected with Cultivators through the Academic Consultancy Training (ACT) program at Wageningen University & Research. He collaborated with a group of students on a cannabis-related project for the company. Throughout the assignment, Kjell felt drawn to both Cultivators and the crop itself. “All the companies we interviewed for the ACT project praised Cultivators,” he said. “I heard so many compliments and positive stories—I immediately knew this was a great company to be part of.”
The project marked his first deep dive into the cannabis industry, as well as cannabis as a plant. “This assignment helped me discover my professional direction,” he reflected. Although he had always been interested in indoor production and LED lighting, he hadn’t felt strongly about a specific crop until he encountered medicinal cannabis. That experience led him to choose medicinal cannabis as the focus for both his internship and graduation thesis.
Kjell is currently in the middle of his 5-months internship for Cultivators. He wanted to do his internship abroad, and luckily for him, Cultivators had a new project going on in France. He joined the project at Overseed; the first licensed R&D medicinal cannabis greenhouse facility. The project turned out to be “the perfect match for learning about cannabis R&D and production” for him.
Because of his research, Kjell has been working closely with cannabis cuttings, doing daily measurements, checks, and assessments. That is why he mentioned that he is becoming experienced with cannabis stem cutting for propagation (root health and development, etc.). Furthermore, for the moment, the team of Overseed is small, which is why Kjell is strongly involved in all activities and stages of production, such as mother plant maintenance, pruning, flower development, irrigation, etc. Therefore, he gained valuable experience and understanding of all stages of medicinal cannabis production.
We asked Kjell about his opinion about the future of the cannabis industry, and he shared that he believes that automated facilities will further increase accuracy and uniformity, which are crucial aspects of the medicinal cannabis industry. Nevertheless, he believes that the biggest challenges facing the cannabis industry are legislation and acceptance by the general public. Also, he mentions that it will be important to strike a perfect balance between high-quality production, automation, and worker and consumer welfare.
Coming months Kjell will be busy finalising his research at Overseed and gather as much as growing experience. By the end of the internship we will give a follow up on this article with results of his time at our French customer.
