Michael Dixon

Education

BSc, MSc Mount Allison;
PhD Edinburgh

Research

• Applications of ozone technologies in the remediation of hydroponic solutions and the disinfection of food processing equipment and grocery store produce.
• Biological filtration of indoor air.
• Nutrient management and recycling in controlled environments.
• Contributions of plants to life support, including the technologies and management strategies required to achieve sustainable and bioregenerative life support for human space exploration. 
• Sensor technologies and development. 
• Applications of fibre optics in tissue culture plant propagation systems as well as safe delivery of UV radiation for sterilization applications in domestic drinking water.
• Development of biodegradable root medium for greenhouse production systems.
• Integrating 3-dimensional vision technology with robotic systems for horticultural management.
• Robotic harvesting.
• Atmosphere management - investigating the technical complexity of simultaneously controlling pressure, temperature, humidity and gas composition under a fully closed system.
• http://ces1.ces.uoguelph.ca/

Meet Prof. Mike Dixon

Mike Dixon is a professor in our School of Environmental Sciences and the Director of the Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF). His research is focused on plant growth in controlled environment and he is specifically interested in developing biological life support systems for applications in space exploration.

Check out Mike's 60 second snapshot video here. 

Publications

• Zheng, Y., L. Wang and M. Dixon. 2004. Response to copper toxicity for three ornamental crops in solution culture. HortScience 39(5): 1116-1120.
• Rondeau Vuk, T., Dixon, M. and Morrow, R. 2004. Tomatosphere - Mission to Mars. SAE Educational Outreach Paper Series 2004-01-2423.
• Waters, G.C.R., Zheng, Y., Gidzinski, D. and Dixon, M.A. 2004. Carbon gain, water use and nutrient uptake of beet (Beta vulgaris) grown in controlled environments. SAE Technical Paper Series 2004-01-2351

Research Area

controlled environments, life support, space exploration