[Better Food]

Through Ag Innovation

Mark Gee strives to make better food.

He has built a deep technical skillset in plant breeding, biochemistry, and biological engineering which he hopes to combine with business leadership to get innovation out of the lab and into the hands of people who want to eat better.

International Agriculture

Everyone deserves good nutrition. Mark has spent years working in India, Mexico, Puerto Rico, France, and the Netherlands building sustainable food systems and learning about global approaches to agriculture. Highlights include a World Food Prize internship at the MS Swaminathan Foundation in India improving the resiliency of millet farmers to climate volatility, a ten-month rotation with the wheat breeding program at CIMMYT in Mexico, and a semester at Wageningen University in the Netherlands studying European approaches to agricultural innovation.

Pollen Preservation

By connecting engineering, biology, and a deep curiosity about how plants work, Mark has contributed discoveries in pollen preservation resulting in several patents. His work at PowerPollen has given Mark insight into agricultural startups and what is required to build a business from a zero to one invention. Outside of the lab, he works directly with customers in a technical sales role to create value from the technologies he helped invent.

Space Nutrition

Mark has worked with NASA, the Mars Society, and Purdue to advance the frontiers of nutrition in space. He served as the greenhouse manager at the Mars Desert Research station with Purdue Crew 186 and conducted several research projects on microgreen production an the microbiome of space habitats. He was Purdue's representative during the development of the Deep Space Food Challenge and his senior thesis focused on the design of microgreen production systems.

Advanced Sensing and Predictive Genetics

As a graduate student at Purdue, Mark helped engineer sensors to better understand plants and is using advanced genomics to predict plant performance. He regularly uses hyperspectral data, drone imagery, and phenomic sensors to discover the genes controlling plant senescence. His Master's thesis studied how to non-destructively measure water content in plant leaves using the LeafSpec. Mark was part of the Purdue team that placed in the top ten in the global Genomes to Fields contest.

Organizational Leadership

We accomplish more together. Mark's approach to team building and leadership began on his journey to Eagle Scout and is being continually refined as he learns from effective leaders. Mark was appointed by Gov. Holcomb of Indiana for a two year term as the student trustee of Purdue University from 2021-2023. During his term, the trustees oversaw a Presidential transition; launch of the Mitchell Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Purdue University in Indianapolis, Purdue Computes, Transformative Education 2.0 and Plant Sciences 2.0; along with approving ongoing tuition freezes, further enrollment growth and expansions of the campus physical facilities with $1.3B in capital projects. Mark is also a graduate of the Daniel's School of Business program in Applied Management Principles.

Wild Feast

Wild foods provide a richness of nutrition, flavor, and diversity you just can't buy in the grocery store. A lifelong gardener, beginning hunter, and professional agriculturalist, Mark is committed to understanding first hand how food is made and incorporating as much biodiversity as possible into his own diet.

Thank you to the Beering Scholars, World Food Prize, Purdue staff and faculty, PowerPollen, teams, and family who have supported me over many years. None of this would have been possible without you.

You can contact me at: markgeeprofile@gmail.com

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