Dr. Rushton has over 30 years of experience in plant biotechnology. He has a degree in biochemistry from Cambridge University and a Ph. D. from Manchester University. He spent 10 years researching at the world-famous Max-Planck-Institute in Cologne Germany where he made several world first discoveries in the area of plant disease resistance. In the United Kingdom, he has also worked at Bristol University and Oxford University. Dr. Rushton arrived in the USA in 2005 and has since held the positions of Research Assistant Professor at The University of Virginia, and Associate Professor at South Dakota State University and Texas A&M. More recently, he was Vice President for Plant Biotechnology at 22nd Century Group. Dr. Rushton is an expert on plant disease resistance, drought responses, vertical farming, and plant secondary metabolites including cannabinoids and nicotine. He is a leader and lecturer in the new field of industrial hemp/cannabis and also has extensive expertise in soybean, turf grass, tobacco, cereals, Arabidopsis, mosses, and rice. Dr. Rushton has over 60 publications and these have been cited by other scientists over 10,000 times. He also has numerous patents and patent applications. In addition to science, Dr. Rushton has experience in writing press releases, intellectual property, and speaking to audiences of all levels. He has also appeared several times on local television.