Education

Metro Orlando’s educational system features a broad range of studies that complement the agritech industry and help provide a well-trained local labor pool. Academia also partners with private businesses in the region—and throughout the country—to support research endeavors.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), located near Lake County, is a federal, state and local government partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources and the life sciences and to make that knowledge accessible to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. IFAS includes extensions in all 67 Florida counties and 14 research and education centers throughout the state. Research expenditures in the 2003-04 year reached nearly $70 million. In 2004, the Institute successfully created a genetically engineered tomato plant resistant to a serious virus that has spread rapidly around the globe, devastating crops and forcing growers to increase use of harmful pesticides. IFAS has also teamed with Florida Food Products Inc. to take advantage of the company’s process development services.

Metro Orlando’s anchor institution, the University of Central Florida, is one of the nation’s leading metropolitan research universities and offers:

• The Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences
  • Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
  • Biomolecular Science Center
  • Doctoral program in biomolecular sciences

Renowned scientists at UCF are researching tobacco’s use in treating exposure to anthrax, as well as offering other health-related solutions.

The region’s network of community colleges provides a wealth of programs related to the agritech field, such as:

• Environmental Science Technology
• Environmental Horticulture Technology
• Agribusiness Technology
• Agriculture Production Technology

The Mid-Florida Research and Education Center (MREC)&#8212part of IFAS&#8212offers research, extension and teaching programs centered on vegetable, fruit and environmental horticulture crops in three broad areas of study:

• Plant development: breeding, developmental biology, biotechnology and economics
• Plant production: nutrition, water use, light and horticulture
• Plant protection: plant pathology, entomology and IPM

In addition to local institutions, regional companies often work with academia outside the state on research projects. Florida Food Products’ Invite product, an organic substance used in pest management, was used in an area wide program for corn rootworm control, which was coordinated by Purdue University, Iowa State and Kansas State University. The company has also worked with North Carolina State for plant genetic testing and the University of Georgia for product testing.