September 9, 2022

WGCIT Lunch & Learn Sessions Return with Naturipe Berry Growers’ Dr. Hillary Thomas

After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology Lunch & Learn series returned last week with a presentation from Dr. Hillary Thomas, the Research and Technical Director at Naturipe Berry Growers.

At Naturipe, Dr. Thomas focuses on the development of applied agricultural programs and technology transfer to growers. She received her doctorate in Entomology in 2009 from the UC Davis and went on to serve as a Science and Technology fellow in the California state legislature.

Representatives from nine WGCIT startups attended for small group networking and one-on-one time with Dr. Thomas. Two key points she made for the group during her presentation were that 1) If a technology works, competition will hear about it and adopt it; and 2) the next consumer-driven movement is based on sustainability practices.

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