9:00 am - 10:00 am - Regenerative Cannabis Cultivation — Microbiomes, Living Soil, and Biological Resilience
How soil biology, microbial ecology, and genomic insight are reshaping sustainable cannabis production. This panel explores regenerative cultivation through a scientific lens—focusing on living soils, beneficial microbial networks, and data-driven strategies to reduce chemical inputs while improving crop resilience and consistency.

• Moderator: Kevin McKernan
• Panelists: Kimberly Gwinn, Punya Nachappa, Zamir Punja, Collin Palmer, Tim Gordon

Panelists will examine how regenerative cultivation can be measured, validated, and scaled, including:

• Distinguishing pathogenic vs. beneficial microbial networks in soil and plant tissues

• Designing cultivation systems that leverage biological control and vector ecology

• Using genomics and qPCR to assess soil health, endophytes, and disease pressure

• Maintaining photoperiod stability and cultivar performance in living-soil systems

• Scaling regenerative models that prioritize nutrient cycling, microbial balance, and long-term soil vitality

11:00 am - 12:00 pm - Flowering Time, Genetics & Climate Adaptation in Cannabis
Decoding how genetics, nutrient signaling, circadian rhythms, and environmental cues govern the most pivotal trait in cannabis cultivation

Flowering time determines yield, cannabinoid expression, harvest timing, and regulatory compliance. This panel brings together leading geneticists and plant scientists to examine how genome structure, nutrient signaling, photoperiod sensing, and climate adaptation converge to control floral induction in cannabis.

• Moderator: Kevin McKernan
• Panelists: Todd Michael, Hatem Rouached, George Stacks, Davoud Torkamaneh, Zach Wise

Panelists will explore how genetics, environment, and nutrient status interact to control flowering, including:

• How flowering genes and regulatory regions differ across landraces and hybrids

• The role of photoperiod and circadian signaling in floral induction timing

• Nutrient-driven transcriptional control of flowering and energy allocation

• Matching genotype to latitude, climate stress, and compliance timelines

• Breeding climate-adaptive cultivars that balance yield predictability and cannabinoid expression

2:45 pm - 3:45 pm - Precision Plant Nutrition — Molecules, Metals & Mycorrhizae
How molecular nutrient signaling, micronutrient homeostasis, and fungal symbioses are redefining cannabis nutrition

This panel reframes plant nutrition as a signaling and negotiation process, not a simple input–output equation. Leading researchers and applied agronomists will explore how ions, metals, and microbial partners regulate growth, flowering, and secondary metabolite production in cannabis.

• Moderator: Karl Ravet
• Panelists: Gabriel Krouk, Hatem Rouached, Mohammad Shanbaz

Panelists will examine how plants interpret and respond to nutrients at the molecular level, including:

• Nutrients and ions as signaling molecules, not just growth inputs
  

• Micronutrient homeostasis and metal balance in enzyme and hormone regulation
  

• Mycorrhizal fungi as nutrient brokers and signal amplifiers
  

• Transcriptional feedback loops governing nutrient uptake and allocation

• Precision nutrition strategies that improve consistency, efficiency, and metabolite expression

4:45 pm - 5:45 pm - Tissue Culture, Clonal Integrity & Regeneration Innovation
Future-proofing cannabis propagation through regeneration science, genetic fidelity, and somaclonal risk management.

As cannabis cultivation scales, tissue culture is no longer just a sanitation tool—it is a foundational technology for genetic preservation, IP protection, and yield consistency. This panel examines the biological, technical, and governance frameworks required to deploy tissue culture at industrial scale without sacrificing clonal integrity.

• Moderator: Michael Catalano
• Panelists: Michael Deyholos, Lasse Schultze, William Graham

Panelists will outline how modern tissue culture programs can be scientifically validated, economically justified, and legally defensible, including:

• Mechanisms driving somaclonal variation and how to mitigate them
  

• Hormonal and genetic controls governing regeneration fidelity
  

• Quality-control frameworks for clonal identity verification
  

• Scaling clean-stock programs without runaway cost or contamination risk
  

• Aligning tissue culture workflows with IP strategy, breeding pipelines, and enterprise operations