Before working as a scientist at the Massachusetts-based cannabis testing lab, SafeTiva Labs, Sands got master’s degree in plant science at the University of Connecticut — studying the genetic regulation of cannabis plants.
“(Employers asked) ‘Do you have science experience?’ Not ‘Do you have cannabis experience.’ But they were like, ‘Oh, someone that has both? We want you immediately,’” she said.
Since Connecticut legalized recreational use of cannabis in 2021, some higher education institutions in Connecticut have launched cannabis education programs to help students transition into an industry that is emerging from underground and rapidly-expanding nationwide.
Recreational cannabis use has been decriminalized in 24 states, including Connecticut, and the expansion is projected to generate nearly 260,000 new jobs between 2024-28, according to a 2024 report by the cannabis employment recruitment firm CannabizTeam. In a 2022 report, the company projected 10,500 cannabis jobs in Connecticut by 2025. Last year, when legal recreational sales began in January, the Connecticut cannabis market recorded $274 million in sales.
The University of Connecticut (UConn) made history in 2019 when it announced it would be the first in the country to offer a university course on the fundamentals of cannabis horticulture (the medical use of cannabis was legal in the state at the time). Since the first course, which had 400 student sign-ups, the program has expanded into an undergraduate cannabis cultivation minor and secured millions of dollars of research funding from cannabis companies and federal agencies.
Gerald Berkowitz, a horticulture professor at the University of Connecticut, introduced the course with fellow faculty member, Matthew DeBacco, partly in response to the lack of published research on growing cannabis in the U.S. Students receive hands-on cultivation training and, at a graduate level, help advance cannabis research in his lab.
“Our courses are based in fundamental biology that is backed up by publications and vetted and evaluated,” he said.
The program secures internships for undergraduate students at licensed cannabis companies that oftentimes hire them after the internship, Berkowitz said. He aims to prepare students for jobs in high demand, such as testing and extraction roles, as well as in-house consultants to supervise horticulture, he said.
“They could have a resume that showed they did work with cannabis companies, took courses and did independent research in laboratories. So, when you put all that together, you have a resume that’s pretty unique in the world of cannabis,” he said.
H/T: StamfordAdvocate
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