Chandler brings a wide array of experiences in product management, crop marketing, and research and technology development to his role at Indigo.
Most recently, Chandler served as Wheat Technical Product Management Lead at Monsanto. This followed a 12-year career at Monsanto, during which he spearheaded technical research in areas such as climate-smart agriculture and water resource management, working on large-scale demonstration farms to collect data and communicate results to a variety of domestic and international stakeholders, including farmers, seed companies, policy makers, NGOs, and investors. From 2008 to 2014, as Water Utilization Center Manager at Monsanto’s Gothenburg (NE) facility, Chandler oversaw the creation of a 325-acre cropping system and interactive Learning Center designed to showcase Monsanto’s commitment to sustainable farming methods. Under his leadership, the Center yielded breakthrough research findings about plant-water relationships and water and nutrient uptake in row cropping systems.
In addition to assuming several senior-level roles for Monsanto’s North American operations, Chandler took his expertise overseas, acting as Technology Development Lead in Ukraine and Russia. While there, he introduced innovative agronomic systems and extension programs around precision planting, soil water management, and dryland cultivation.
Before his time at Monsanto, Chandler led a number of technical and marketing functions at BASF, culminating in his position as the company’s Global Strategic Marketing Manager, which led him to play a central role in the development of a host of trait assets and active ingredients focused on profitability and environmental sustainability.
Chandler obtained a BS in Agriculture Sciences and an MS in Agronomy, Plant Breeding, and Genetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). More recently, he received an MBA from Capella University. He is also a professor emeritus at UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and has demonstrated advisory experience at the state and national level as a prior representative on the Nebraska Water Funding Task Force and a former member of the Nebraska 4-H Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
“Coming off the back of long careers at Monsanto and BASF, two very well-established players in ag, I’m excited to join Indigo and lend my technical research experience to a company that is looking to shake up the industry by offering growers access to agronomic innovations and insights that benefit their operations as well as the environment.”
