The Emerald Conference, which focuses on how science and data support several sectors of the cannabis industry, kicked off Wednesday in California.
The event, now in its sixth year, is an industry forum for discussion on best practices in cultivation, production and quality assurance through the lens of science.
The conference runs through Saturday at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego and is expected to draw around 800.
This year, the session content is aimed at segments of the cannabis industry that generate products intended for medicinal and lifestyle use, as well as other key areas of science and research.
Speakers and attendees represent the fields of analytical testing, extraction science, research and development, cultivation science, formulations and preclinical research, among others.
Conference attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on sessions on a wide range of science-focused cannabis topics, including:
- A molecular evaluation of cannabinoid production.
- Lab studies from Israel on cannabis’ effects on brain cells.
- Extraction optimization and control with data analytics.
- Stability in product development.
- Improved data quality in cannabis terpene profiling.
Emerald Scientific, headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California, distributes scientific equipment and supplies exclusively to the cannabis industry.
The company launched the Emerald Conference in 2015 to bring together scientists, researchers, testing labs and businesses to advance cannabis science.
Marijuana Business Daily has partnered with Emerald Scientific since 2016 to produce the one-day Science Symposium, a precursor to the company’s marquee event, MJBizCon, in Las Vegas.
MJBizDaily acquired the Emerald Conference in undisclosed terms in January, highlighting the importance of research to the cannabis industry.
“Emerald Scientific has done a fantastic job building this into the go-to cannabis science gathering of the year,” said Chris Walsh, president and CEO of Marijuana Business Daily.
“Our goal is to retain that foundation while also utilizing our expertise in the cannabis industry, events, objective journalism and research.”
The Emerald Conference’s programming this year is guided by a committee of scientists and others tasked with cutting-edge technical content to “provoke collaboration and the advancement of science in the cannabis industry.”
The conference also includes talks by:
- John Abrams, Ph.D., the Emerald Conference’s scientific director.
- Robert Strongin, Ph.D., professor of organic chemistry at Portland State University in Oregon.
- Keith Allen, Ph.D., director of bioinformatics for Front Range Biosciences in Colorado.
The four-day event began Wednesday with a golf outing to benefit the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit that seeks to correct the ills of the war on drugs, and ends Saturday with a separately ticketed Quality Summit.
More information about the Emerald Conference is available here.
Bart Schaneman can be reached at barts@mjbizdaily.com
