WELCOME to the 39 North monthly Newsletter

Your source for news and happenings in our innovation neighborhood. | October 2023

39 North Pedal the Cause Team   The 39 North Pedal the Cause Team had a great weekend of riding to support the Siteman Cancer Center and Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. 18 members raised $23,000! Thank you to our generous community for your support of research that aims to create a world without cancer. Meet our Awesome Team

Weekly: Danforth Center Scientific Seminar Series The Danforth Center hosts a complimentary virtual weekly Scientific Seminar Series on a variety of topics. Click here for a listing of upcoming seminars and join the conversation!  If you would like to participate or be on the email list for these seminars, please contact Terri Burton, tburton@danforthcenter.org.

Agritech Thursdays Second Thursday of the Month 5:30 - 6:30PM Geospatial Innovation Center, T-REX, 911 Washington Avenue 4th Floor AgriTech Thursdays is a monthly, after-work event focused on agricultural technologies research and collaboration in the St Louis region. At each event, one company or researcher gives a short, 15-minute talk on an existing or solved research problem of their choosing and how it fits into the wider agricultural technologies landscape followed by Q&A, drinks, and networking. Interested in giving a talk? Contact: george@deepgrain.com

Collaborating with the Danforth Center October 17, 10:30AM - 12:30PM Danforth Center, Langenberg Theater Join us for presentations from each of our Core Facility Directors, and then each of our core facilities directors (Kirk Cymmerk,Noah Fahlgren, Katie Murphy, Kevin Reilly, Russell Williams, and Veena Veena about the services offered to external clients. Director of Tech Management and IP, Erica Agnew, will review the contract process as well. Register Here

IGNITE October 18, 2023 4:30 - 6:30PM Danforth Plant Science Center Join us as we explore “Connecting Global Ecosystems for Greater Impact” during an engaging panel discussion featuring Teresita Di Marco, Principal, The Yield Lab LATAM; Gabriela Burian, Global Director for Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships, Bayer Crop Science; Luis Fernandez Zang, Senior Investment Officer, IDB Lab, IDB Group; and Mark Jarman, Founder and Consultant, AgriTIERRA Ltd. and LATAM Lead, Agri-EPI Centre. As always we will leave plenty of time for impactful networking before and after the program! Learn More

An Introduction to Trimbel Geospatial Solutions October 19, 9AM - 4:30PM Join us for an introduction to Trimble Geospatial Solutions featuring Trimble Business Center and field data collection tools. Experts will offer informative solution overviews as well as Q&As. Collaborate with other universities on curriculum ideas and share best practices on teaching students in a classroom environment. Trimble Business Center (TBC) software enables surveyors to transform field data from GNSS receivers, total stations, laser scanners, mobile mapping systems, drones and more into high-quality, actionable information and client deliverables. Sign up mcrawford@seilergeo.com

Defining Your Business Model and Discovering Your True Value – A Tech Workshop Series October 19th, November 2 and 16, 8:30 - 11:30AM online This 3-session training will introduce technology start-ups to the steps necessary for developing a business model canvas for their early concept. This includes a framework that focuses on discovering the customer problems in the space where their potential solution may live. In addition, the course will include steps to develop a value proposition that fulfills the customer’s need, that differentiates them in the marketplace. Register Here

She Leads  October 20, 9AM - 3PM Washington University  The program will offer a mentor workshop, women in entrepreneurship panel and building a career discussion featuring inspiring and successful women panelists who will share how they have combined career, personal life, and other interests beyond graduation. The event will close with a networking reception. Learn More

BioBash 2023: Navigating Change & Finding Fulfillment October 24, 1:30 - 5:30 PM Danforth Plant Science Center   BioBash is a community-driven annual career networking and job fair event hosted by the Committee for Scientific Training and Mentoring (CSTM) at the Danforth Plant Science Center. The goal of this event is to educate and bring together the scientific community in St. Louis and discuss the broad range of career opportunities in life sciences. The event will include a career panel discussion and pitch contest as well as a job fair and networking. Learn More

Plant CV Workshop October 26, 9:00AM - 5:00PM Danforth Center This full-day, hands-on course specifically designed for the plant science industry professionals will provide instruction in using PlantCV, a free, open-source image analysis platform, advanced machine learning tools and chlorophyll fluorescence image analysis. The workshop is led by Director of Data Science, Principal Investigator, and PlantCV co-creator Dr. Noah Fahlgren. Additional expert instructors, including Director of Phenotyping and Principal Investigator Dr. Katie Murphy, Data Science Trainer Parag Bhatt, and PlantCV Developer Haley Schuhl ensure a 5:1 student to instructor ratio. This workshop is a good fit for scientists of many career stages looking to reduce their labor costs by applying image-based phenotyping techniques. No previous experience is required. Learn More

Blood Drive November 1, 11AM to 3PM Be the Change. Help change a life. Give blood Please visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter: DDPSC to schedule an appointment.

Got R&D Money? Top Tips for Funding R&D with Grants November 9, 10 to 11:30AM via Zoom This free 90-minute offering is designed to introduce technology start-ups and existing businesses on how they might fund R&D through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grants. This is an introduction to the topic that has been developed for companies that are new to seeking grant funds and is not a “how to apply” course. This course will also offer specific directions on how to search research topics at various government agencies to determine if grants are available for your unique technology. In addition, participants will be provided a list of additional resources for assistance on how to apply for an SBIR grant. Register Here

Have You Met Nick Reinke, CEO, Habiterre Describe your journey to 39 North. My dedication to agriculture started back home on our 4th generation family farm in Lisbon, North Dakota, where my brother still farms today. From there, I spent the first 10 years of my career in ag banking and crop insurance, supporting numerous farmers across the upper Midwest. During that time, it became evident that climate change wasn’t just some esoteric and distant issue, it was already having a significant impact on the farmers I knew and served. I loved working with farmers and saw a need for authentic farm voices in the climate change conversation to make positive impact at scale.   This drove a career pivot into the sustainability space, starting with the launch of a carbon market offering at Truterra, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes. During my time there, I had the pleasure of designing programs to reward farmers for good stewardship of their land and the associated climate impact that could have. It was clear that major technological advancements were needed for these markets to scale, which ultimately brought me to my current role as CEO of HabiTerre.   At HabiTerre, we have developed leading-edge technologies to combine geospatial imagery and modeling with deep biogeochemical models to scalably and accurately quantify environmental outcomes in ag. Given our work at the nexus of geospatial and ag tech, 39 North emerged as the best place in the country to locate and scale, and bolstered by a 2022 Arch Grant, I moved to St. Louis last year and have been blown away by the innovation and energy in this community.   What are you excited to be working on right now? I couldn’t be more excited about what we’re building at HabiTerre, specifically greenhouse gas and soil carbon quantification at scale to support major corporations as they pursue ambitious climate targets. The key to what we do is a combination of scientific rigor and computational efficiency, which allows us to ensure these markets are viable and scalable. For these markets to work, high confidence in the data to support climate claims is critical, as is efficient quantification to ensure as much funding as possible goes to the people making the impact: farmers.   To that end, we are rapidly scaling the company and will be raising capital to keep up with the overwhelming demand for our services. Here again, the 39 North community has been an incredible resource for us, connecting us to innovation hubs like the Danforth Plant Science Center and BioGenerator, and we look forward to expanding our network both within the community and through the powerful global network this community reaches.   What do you enjoy doing in your free time? I love traveling and connecting with people who are passionate about doing impact-driven work in any sense, so much of my personal time is spent connecting with such folks in any and every forum possible. In St. Louis, I enjoy exploring all of the wonderful food and music happenings around town and have been impressed by the sports community here, especially the incredible St. Louis City Soccer Club.   In the summer, I spend a lot of my time closer to the home farm at our family lake cabin in western Minnesota. One of the best things about that place has been hosting friends and colleagues from the climate and ag impact space, where we get to enjoy some nature, get away from the heat, and nerd out about the exciting work we’re doing together. 

39 North and Nationwide Partners Recieves U.S. Small Business Administration Award to Strengthen National Food System St. Louis Collaborators Launch Cultivar STL to strengthen partnerships with Latin America Creating Global Partnerships in Ag (WATCH) Research Reveals How a Single Enzyme Can Boost Soybean Oil Production Food Science: Stories about things we eat (LISTEN) 

2023 Soy Innovation Challenge Accepting Applications Now! The Yield Lab Institute & United Soybean Board have launched the 2023 Soy Innovation Challenge focused on driving innovation and technology for novel uses of soybean meal. Awards will include cash, inkind services, mentorships, and technical and commercial support. Application deadline is November 6  Learn More

Have news to share? Please contact: Dena Holtgrewe, at dholtgrewe@danforthcenter.org