Chelsea ColleyThe University of Kentucky Lewis Honors College Speaker Series will welcome entrepreneur and AppHarvest Founder Jonathan Webb to campus.
The event will take place in-person 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, in the Lewis Honors College Scholars Lounge. It is open to the entire UK community.
According to the website, the purpose of the Lewis Honors College Speaker Series is to better prepare the Lewis Honors College students for the challenges and opportunities of life by covering topics including self-awareness, personal values, character development, leadership, critical thinking, decision-making, financial literacy, career planning, success and happiness; and to educate the Lewis Honors College students regarding the American values of individual liberty, free enterprise, personal responsibility, faith, family, patriotism, intellectual diversity, community engagement and civic responsibility.
Webb is the founder and CEO of AppHarvest, a sustainable foods company developing and operating some of the world’s largest high-tech indoor farms to build an efficient food system. AppHarvest’s farms are designed to grow non-GMO produce using sunshine, 100% rainwater and up to 90% less water than open-field growing, all while producing yields up to 30 times that of traditional agriculture in a climate-resilient growing system.
After graduating from the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics, Webb spent years developing massive solar projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. During this time, he learned about the Netherlands’ modern, tech-forward system of hydroponic agriculture. This research, coupled with reports that global food production would need to nearly double by 2050 and news of expanding drought and wildfire across the country, led Webb to realize that the American food system required change — fast.
