The online Green Flower Academy is attracting bright minds and professionals from across the globe, and people are bridging those cannabis knowledge gaps!
Although Academy is filled with people from diverse backgrounds, an important pattern among these students has emerged:
1) Passion for trusted cannabis knowledge
2) A desire to add value to the cannabis industry and the people it serves
Each of the stories that follows is yet another example of how cannabis education unites people in so many different, inspiring ways.
David Slagle – Cannabis Meets Natural Products and Sports Nutrition
David Slagle has devoted the past 25+ years serving others in the world of nutritional supplements and most recently sports nutrition.
This sector has also become an extremely hot area for cannabis and CBD products, which is exactly why Slagle realized he had to catch up on all the facts.
“CBD has been trending in the natural products category for the last 18 months, and I had both a desire and a need to become educated on the topic of cannabis,” he notes.
This need and desire is exactly why he signed up for the online Cannabis Fundamentals Certificate Program through Green Flower Academy. In fact, Slagle sees cannabis as a fantastic opportunity for anybody interested in sports nutrition or nutritional supplements in general.
“Cannabis extracts have several interesting applications in the formulation of cognition, performance, and recovery-enhancing nutritional products beyond CBD,” he says.
“As an industry professional, I wanted to gain deeper insight of the ‘seed to shelf’ processes, and specific knowledge of cannabinoids and terpenes.”
While going through the Fundamentals course, Slagle enjoyed the “A to Z comprehensiveness of the program” as well as being able to learn at his own pace in the online environment.
“Cannabis is a category that is primed for growth, and time is a valuable factor for busy professionals looking to expand their education,” Slagle says.
“I have recommended the Green Flower Certificate Programs to several colleagues.”
Alexander Malik – Horticulture Student Intends to Innovate in Cannabis Growing
Alexander Malik is not your average college student. The 29-year-old Minnesota native studies horticulture full-time at Colorado State University and intends to be a true innovator for Minnesota cannabis.
“My career goals are to join a cannabis cultivation, research, and/or breeding team, and eventually open my own facility based in Minnesota,” he says.
“I have had a strong interest in cannabis since the age of 14. I am particularly interested in pushing the possibilities of the plant, using technology and analytical data to create a wide variety of chemotypes for both adult use and also relief for medical patients.”
Malik explains that nothing gets him more excited than reading and staying up to date on all the newest research surrounding cannabis, including how we can get the most out of it medicinally.
“[I want to] learn how we can accurately and consistently create new varieties depending on what ailment we are looking to treat,” he says.
At the same time, Malik realizes how competitive cannabis employment has become, which is why he recently went through Green Flower Academy’s Cannabis Cultivation Certificate Program – to give himself an edge in finding a good cultivation employer in the cannabis space as well as supplementing his current cultivation knowledge with an up-to-date curriculum.
His favorite part of the program? “Any of the lectures given by Kevin Jodrey! The man has such an extensive wealth of knowledge and presents it in an easy-to-understand format while staying true to using proper scientific vernacular,” Malik says.
“Aside from that, I really enjoyed the ability to complete the program at your own pace, so you don’t feel rushed.”
With the cannabis industry at such early stages of growth and transformation here in the states and globally, Malik continues, everyone involved is going to become a student of the plant to really push the limits and maximize what cannabis can do.
“This program gives you a fantastic base of information for not only the home grower of cannabis, but also for someone looking to understand commercial cultivation, and the differences between the two.”
Andre Harington – Building Bridges for South African Cannabis
Andre Harington is on the cusp of becoming a trailblazer in South African cannabis with a vision that benefits everyone.
The professional experience Harington brings to the cannabis sector is inspiring. In fact, it’s worth a bullet list:
- Honors degree in Business Administration from WITS Business School in South Africa
- Assists WITS Department of Pharmacology Masters students
- Recent Masters degree in International Contract Law
- 20 years’ experience in large-scale IT System development and deployment across Africa and Europe
That’s a lot of experience, which Harington currently puts to work as a growth strategy consultant with various medium-size businesses in South Africa.
Harington is also involved in a couple new cannabis ventures, including a new extraction business.
Harington explains that the South African cannabis market is currently dealing with a lack of maturity due to cannabis having been decriminalized so recently.
“When I started my in-depth research on cannabis extraction in 2016, I found it extremely difficult to find new and reliable information, especially in South Africa where I live,” Harington explains.
“I chose Green Flower’s program largely due to the names being featured as lecturers as they were all well-known experts in their fields with significant experience.”
It wasn’t just the names in Green Flower Academy that caught Harington’s attention, but also the opportunity to learn from a more advanced cannabis market.
“I wanted to leverage the wisdom, lessons learned and experience from a more mature market which this program shoots the lights out on!” Harington remarks.
“I think it will be difficult for anyone to compete with this lineup of experts and cannabis lovers – and I say this deliberately as Green Flower’s featured speakers clearly have a love for the plant and are not in it purely for financial gain.”
For Harington, the level of detail throughout the Fundamentals Certificate Program was both in-depth, yet also easy to absorb – well worth the price of admission.
“I was initially worried about the value I would get for the money I paid, fearing it would be a rehash of what I could have found myself on Google – but this was certainly not the case,” he notes.
“Given what I learned I believe this is some of the best value for money I have gotten so far in my pursuit of knowledge around this incredible plant!
The main focus for Harington is ensuring South Africa gets the cannabis industry it deserves.
“South Africa (and neighboring countries) has a rich history of amazing indigenous cannabis strains where the knowledge has been passed from one generation to the next under prohibition,” Harington explains.
“I have a desire to ensure that the people in the rural areas, who have grown this cannabis for generations under prohibition and paid the price for that, are not left behind or overlooked as this new wave of commercialization takes hold.”
Part of the key here, Harington continues, is collaboration and education.
“I am always looking for people to collaborate with when it comes to ethical and responsible cannabis.”
