Contact Us

• Overview of LBL's Precision Urban Agriculture Initiative
• Overview Power Point

Romy Chakraborty [Initiative Leader] is a scientist in the Earth Sciences Division, Ecology Department and the lead for Urban Agriculture at LBNL. She researches novel microbes and microbial functions related to plant uptake of Nitrogen and Phosphorous. Her laboratory uses biochemical, physiological and molecular approaches to study plant-microbe interactions. The goal is to apply this knowledge towards environmental stewardship and sustainable food and fuel production. More...

Nilofer Ahsan [Initiative Coordination] has a 20-year history working in child and family policy, urban poverty and community revitalization. She has worked closely with the federal agencies, all 50 US states, and municipal and community leaders in many cities across the country, on framing and implementing a wide range of policies related to these issues.

Arian Aghajanzadeh is a Scientific Engineering Associate in the High Tech and Industrial Systems Group at LBNL. His work at LBNL is primarily focused on Industrial Energy Efficiency and Demand Response. Arian's goal is to promote energy and water management technologies within California's Industrial, Agricultural, and Water sectors. Arian joined LBNL with a background in tech industry, where he worked for Applied Materials, the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and materials company. More...

Gary Anderson heads the Ecology department at LBNL.  His laboratory uses molecular approaches to study the dynamics of microbial communities under changing environmental conditions.  In 2008 Gary received the Wall Street Journal's Technology Innovation Award for work related to environmental issues. More...

Christine Doughty is a scientist in the Energy Geosciences Division, Hydrogeology Department, doing mathematical modeling of fluid and heat flow in the subsurface.  Applications include water-balance analysis in temperate and desert environments, accounting for infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, and groundwater discharge;  remediation of groundwater and vadose-zone contamination; soil and aquifer thermal energy storage; geologic sequestration of CO₂ and nuclear waste; and exploitation of geothermal and petroleum resources.  More...

Darren Ho is the program coordinator for the Lab Directed and Research and Development Program. The program funds cutting edge “proof of principle” projects to determine the utility of new scientific ideas, hypotheses, technical concepts, experimental facilities and devices. In this capacity, he is passionate about building new capabilities in forward looking what-if solutions to problems on the horizon. The Lab's Precision Urban Agriculture Initiative plays perfectly into that. More...

Roger Sathre a scientist with the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of LBNL. His research focuses on prospective life-cycle environmental analysis of emerging energy and industrial technologies. He is also Adjunct Professor at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden, where he conducts life-cycle system analysis of forestry, bioenergy and the built environment.  More...

Maryann Villavert is the Communications Manager in the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area. She aims to connect-the-dots amongst other related initiatives at Berkeley Lab and make an impact to the community.