In our Women in Grow: Leadership in Cannabis Genetics and Cultivation supplement, Cannabis Science and Technology interviewed researcher and educator Anna Schwabe, PhD, Associate Lecture Professor at the University of Colorado and Chief Operating Officer of CannaGen, an online cannabis genetic marketplace for licensed breeders, nurseries, and cultivators.

In the final video clip from our interivew, Dr. Schwabe explains the organizations she is actively involved in, from genetics to laboratories to education, plus some of the past guests from her podcast, and plans for the future.

Check out our interactive supplement to read the full expert interviews, including an interview with hemp specialist Daniela Vergara, PhD.

Transcription

Sebastian Krawiec: What are you working on currently that you’re excited about, looking ahead into the future. If you can talk about it.

Anna Schwabe: I mentioned I’m working for about five different startup companies. They’re all different, and they’re all looking at different things. So the Agricultural Genomics Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is going to be working – it’s general cannabis research. The foundation was started by Daniela Vergara, who’s another cannabis scientist, and we’re working to advance cannabis science, specifically in genetics and genomics, and also educate. We are going to be doing some seed trials with farmers and partnering with companies like Atlas Seeds to see how these plants perform in different areas, and actually get some data driven things done. Because we know that it’s going to turn out different in different in different environments, so how different and what performs well where, we want to know that.

And then let’s see what else. Working with Cannagen, as you mentioned, as their Chief Operating Officer, that’s an online marketplace, so we’re not actually going to be selling anything, but it’s really important for sellers and buyers to come together. Right now you can get online and try and search for seeds, and you will get inundated with all kinds of stuff, and it’s hard to know who to trust. It’s just very all over the place. So we wanted to create a centralized marketplace for people to go. It’s all people who are licensed. We have ways to put up your COAs and your genetic tests and your pathogen tests so everything’s really transparent.

Another company that I’m working with is looking at genotyping to try and figure out some of this stuff, and then give IP to breeders. It costs a lot of money and resources to develop new strains and without any kind of protection, it’s not really worth doing all that work. So that’s a lot of the reason why cloning is so prevalent in the cannabis industry is because it’s like, well, but then once that’s gone, it’s gone, right?

And then there’s a company here in New Jersey. They’re opening a cultivation facility up in Maine, and working on some other super secret stuff with them. And possibly opening a testing lab somewhere, and working with a university on that. So, yeah, I’m doing a lot of stuff. Yeah, I got a lot of balls in the air.

Sebastian Krawiec: No, it’s great for you. I mean, you’re very impressive, did a lot of great work, and I appreciate you spending some time with us, all the limited time that you do have, to discuss this with us. I really appreciate it.

Anna Schwabe: Not a problem at all. I love to talk about cannabis, and honestly, I could talk for hours honestly. If anybody wants to check out any of my work or other interviews, or I think I have a couple of blog posts on there, or just want to follow me. My website, I’m really easy to find. It’s just www.annaschwabe.com and there’s a research tab and all that stuff and links to my social media, so you can find me on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Sebastian Krawiec: You also have a podcast, correct?

Anna Schwabe: We used to have a podcast. It’s kind of on hold right now. The Dank Hour, we were on every week and it was a panel of industry experts, couple PhDs, Tess Eidem, Mark Scialdone, and then a couple of legacy growers were on there. We did have extraction experts at one point, but it was an evolving panel. But we would have legit guests on, people from True Terpenes, and we had Reggie Gaudino, Daniel Vergara, Eleanor Kuntz from LeafWorks. And some of those are on my website as well. So if you’re interested in watching people talk about cannabis, those are fun to watch.

Sebastian Krawiec: Awesome. Well, thanks again for joining us. Really appreciate it.

Anna Schwabe: You’re welcome.