Ex-Officio Members

Standing Ex-Officio Members:

Lindsay Baerwald – (Texas Department of Agriculture representative)
Pat Berry – (Texas State Florists’ Association representative)
Amit Dhingra (TAMU, Department of Horticultural Sciences)
Amy Graham – (Texas Nursery and Landscape Association representative)
Jim Ellison – (retired, Ellison’s Greenhouses, Inc.)

Lindsay Baerwald

Texas Department of Agriculture

Experienced Event Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the public sector. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Event Planning, Adult Education, Staff Development, and Educational Leadership. Strong operations professional with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused in Music Education from Ouachita Baptist University. Currently serving as Marketing Coordinator at Texas Department of Agriculture.

Pat Berry

Texas State Florists’ Association

Owner of Vickery Wholesale Greenhouse, in business since 1952, with locations in Dallas and Austin. Graduate of the University of Texas in Austin, with a BA in Philosophy. Born and raised in Dallas, TX and currently a resident of Round Rock, TX. Past President of the Texas State Florists Association and former Growers Council member of SAF. Answered ad in the newspaper in 1978 and hired at Vickery. Was gifted 49% ownership of Vickery in 1982. Bought out original owner/founder to become sole owner in 1987.

Amit Dhingra

Texas A&M University
Department of Horticultural Sciences

Amit Dhingra is the Head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Professor of Genomics and Biotechnology, and Senior Scientist at the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M University.

The Dhingra research program investigates important biological processes in specialty crops relevant to the current and future needs of agriculture. The knowledge gained is translated to crop improvement through various approaches. He has trained 17 graduate students and several post-doctoral scientists, and over a hundred undergraduate students, and in 2017, he was awarded the Council on Undergraduate Research National Biology Mentor award. He has published more than 85 high impact peer-reviewed journal articles. He serves on the editorial board of five internationally reputed plant science journals. He has been awarded three US and three international patents on regulating ripening in fruits to reduce post-harvest wastage. Dr. Dhingra’s research has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, BBC, The Times of London, and several other news outlets.

Amit founded Phytelligence Inc., an agriculture biotechnology spin-off out of his lab in 2011. He has recently started his second start-up, Qualterra Inc. (www.qualterraag.com), an agricultural technology company that is creating innovations for agriculture and sustainability. He is also involved with Moolec Science (https://moolecscience.com/), a plant-based, alternative protein production company that was recently listed on Nasdaq, and Ryp Labs (https://www.ryplabs.com/), a post-harvest technology start-up, in the capacity of their Chief Science Officer.

Additional information about Dr. Dhingra’s professional activities can be obtained at
Research website – https://genomics.wsu.edu/category/news/ and
https://hortsciences.tamu.edu/people/faculty-2/amit-dhingra/
LinkedIN – https://linkedin.com/in/amitdhingraphd

Jim Ellison

Retired, Ellison’s Greenhouses, Inc.

Mr. Jim Ellison served as President of Ellison’s Greenhouses, Inc. for a number of years until his retirement. He received a BS in Agri-Business at New Mexico State University. He is President of the Brenham Country Club, life member of Texas State Florist Association and involved with Rotary International and Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Jim’s Texas A&M University activities include TAMU College of Ag. Development Council, TAMU Research Foundation Council and Capital Campaign.

Amy Graham

Texas Nursery and Landscape Association

President, Texas Nursery and Landscape Association.