In response to a rapidly expanding commercial hemp industry driven by interest in products with CBD oil, the University of Connecticut recently opened a laboratory where the plant can be tested for a variety of compounds.

As part of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering’s Hemp Initiative, the UConn facility will support the efforts of growers, manufacturers, and researchers, and educate students interested in entering the field.

A non-intoxicating marijuana extract, cannabidiol – commonly known as CBD – has made its way into products treating everything from anxiety to seizures to pain. This fall marks the culmination of the state’s first growing season since federal legislation to legally grow and harvest the hemp crop, which produces the oil.

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After enrolling in classes at UConn to get a degree in sustainable plants and soil systems, Dylan Williams, who already had a background in organic vegetable farming for around four years — and set up his 15-acre farm to do community-supported agriculture — began growing hemp on a research farm with his professor, Gerry Berkowitz. “We really had a good time watching kind of a new industry grow within the first year, and I’ve been involved ever since,” Dylan Williams said Friday.
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A three-credit course, entitled Horticulture of Cannabis: From Seed to Harvest (SPSS 3995), provides an overview of the complete growing cycle of cannabis. While there are no prerequisites, it is scientifically rigorous, and course instructor Matt DeBacco says that students will benefit greatly from having taken introductory classes in biology, chemistry and horticulture.
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UConn students will have the opportunity to learn the science behind cannabis horticulture, thanks to a new undergraduate course being offered in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. One of the first courses of its kind in the country, “Horticulture of Cannabis: From Seed to Harvest” will be taught by Gerald “Gerry” Berkowitz, professor of plant science, and several experts working in the cannabis industry today, including former graduate student Matt DeBacco (CAHNR ’07, ’11 MS in plant pathology, ’14 MS in education). Other experts include CEOs from successful business operations, such as licensed cannabis growing facilities in Connecticut and cannabis testing labs.
Read the full UConn Today article.