Presenter: Josh Haslun, Ph.D., Research Director at Lux Research

Joshua Haslun is the Research Director on the Emerging Ecosystems in Agrifood and Health team at Lux Research. In this role, he sets the direction and strategy for research spanning innovations from the field to the consumer. He has enabled client decision-making, partnership development, and new business development by illuminating an understanding of emerging and innovative technologies and business models through which to implement them. Emerging areas include alternative agriculture inputs, supply chain evolution, the impact of “omics” and biotechnology, and personalization. While the value chain remains an important aspect of this research, Josh brings ecosystem-level analyses that navigate rapidly changing regulatory frameworks, consumer demand, and cross-cutting issues.

Joshua has extensive experience across numerous scientific disciplines including quantitative genomics, immunology, isotope systematics, and microbial ecology. Prior to joining Lux, Joshua was a Research Associate for the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at Michigan State University, where he developed methods to apportion nitrogen losses among diverse soil microbial processes, fostering soil microbiome management methods to improve biofuel feedstock production.

Joshua obtained a dual-degree Ph.D. in Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior from Michigan State University, and has contributed more than 10 publications to top peer-reviewed journals on diverse subjects. He also holds a B.S. in Biology from Siena College, and an M.S. in Biology specializing in Marine Science from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.