Darren L. Fenice
Deer Park,NY
Summary
Self-driven, hard working, organized, and responsible individual with an overgrown passion for horticulture, greenhouses, and farming. Nature-loving individual with a passion for working outdoors or in a greenhouse environment. Well-versed in all aspects of crop planting, including harvesting and cultivating.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Farmhand (Volunteer Work)
The Napolitano Family Farm
10.2023 - Current
- Providing maintenance, and labor for a 2-acre organic farm.
- Duties include: weeding, vegetable/fruit harvesting, bed maintenance, composting, removal of irrigation lines, field clearing, fence clearing, tilling, cover cropping, and planting for the next season.
- Assist with the harvesting of produce, washing of the produce, and packing of dozens of CSA orders.
- Utilized farming equipment and machinery.
Scientific Laboratory Farmhand/Greenhouse Technician
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
04.2023 - 09.2023
- Assisted postdoctoral fellows with research projects involving phenotyping, locule counting, data collection, fruit harvesting, and plant cloning.
- Sowed thousands of seeds for the plants used in genetics research at the laboratory.
- Provided care, and maintenance for 4 different greenhouses, and the plants inside.
- Utilized cross-pollination techniques to cross-pollinate dozens of Solanum plants.
- Collected thousands of tissue samples from various plants such as: Solanum, Prinophyllum, and Physalis using Quick Extraction, and CTAB techniques.
- Used farming equipment and machinery.
- Transplanted dozens of transgenic tissue cultured plants.
- Extracted thousands of seeds from fruits, and used enzymes, and TSP to wash them.
- Assisted in the setup of 3 separate 1-acre plots, and performed field work for these plots. This included: laying down plastic bedding, installing irrigation lines, repairing broken irrigation, hole punching, transplanting, weeding.
- Utilized backpack sprayers to apply biopesticides to plants in the fields.
Cultivation Technician II/ Plant Health Advisory Team Lead
PharmaCann
05.2021 - 08.2022
- Provided high quality care to medicinal cannabis crops in a 75,000 square foot facility.
- Regular duties included: watering, defoliating/trimming, water pour-through testing, cloning/breeding, transplanting, trellising, fertilizer feeding, and pest management.
- Utilized chemical and non-chemical methods to protect crops from pests.
- Identified, isolated and treated diverse pests and diseases in crops.
- Experience with different types of growing mediums such as coco-coir, and rock wool.
- Cloned between 150-300 plants weekly to help keep up with facility demands.
- Harvested over 1,000 plants weekly.
- Led, and advised a team of 4 in weekly Brix degree testing, soil assays, and water pour through testing to check for plant sugar levels, nutrient levels, and pH/EC levels.
- Collected between 45-81 different data points each week to develop, analyze, and interpret graphs to see relationships between nutrients and plant health.
- Spearheaded routine environmental, air flow, and air quality audits to ensure greenhouses were running at optimal levels.
- Designed 3 different audit layouts to best fit the facility, and to minimize time spent on each project.
- Communicated with coworkers and management to report challenges.
Horticulturist/Farmhand
Atlantic Nurseries Inc.
02.2016 - 07.2016
- Received, and unloaded between 5 to 10 deliveries daily.
- Conducted regular greenhouse/nursery maintenance to ensure optimal care of all perennials, annuals, and woody plants/trees/shrubs.
- Duties included: watering, weeding, transplanting, creating hanging baskets, fertilizing, filling pots with soil, covering plants, and pruning plants.
- Assisted customers with questions related to the plants sold in the nursery.
- Propagated hundreds of plants from seed, rhizomes, and plugs that were then sold in the nursery.
- Well-versed in the recognition of harmful insects, diseases, and fungal growths on plants. Knowledge of, and experience with integrated pest management.
- Drove tractors, trailers, and electric carts to help transport plants around the nursery.
- Utilized a wide variety of landscaping tools to conduct regular maintenance around nursery grounds to upkeep visual aesthetics.
- Retained knowledge of garden plants and understanding of cultural requirements to maximize growth and cultivation.
Education
Certification - Hemp Genetics And Breeding
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY12.2022
M.Ed. - Science Education
Arcadia University
Glenside, PA08.2019
Bachelor of Science - Environmental Science
Chestnut Hill College
Philadelphia, PA08.2016
Skills
- Project management
- Research and data collection
- Greenhouse work and maintenance
- Attention to detail
- Leadership
- Team management
- Hazardous chemical handling
- Agricultural Equipment Operation
- Physical Stamina
- Pest Control
- Harvesting Knowledge
- Task Prioritization
- Dependable and Hardworking
Timeline
Farmhand (Volunteer Work)
The Napolitano Family Farm
10.2023 - Current
Scientific Laboratory Farmhand/Greenhouse Technician
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
04.2023 - 09.2023
Cultivation Technician II/ Plant Health Advisory Team Lead
PharmaCann
05.2021 - 08.2022
Horticulturist/Farmhand
Atlantic Nurseries Inc.
02.2016 - 07.2016
Certification - Hemp Genetics And Breeding
Cornell University
M.Ed. - Science Education
Arcadia University
Bachelor of Science - Environmental Science
Chestnut Hill College
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