Trent Davis is joining the PL Research team as a Research Administrator. Trent received degrees in business and economics at Washington State University and Cornell University, did research at Cornell, and helped develop the Cornell Blockchain club and the Smart Contract Research Forum.

We asked Trent about his journey to PL, what he’ll be working on, and his thoughts on the future:

What path brought you to PL?

It wasn’t a direct path; that’s for sure! Before joining the team, you could find me conducting research on how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced customer satisfaction at wineries, and then the next day looking at how tokenomic designs may increase the equity of crpytocurrency rewards. I’ve always been passionate about the idea that research conducted by industry or academia should be accessible to any and all who are interested. At the end of the day, the open-source nature of how research is conducted here is what brought me to PL.

What are you working on?

I’m incredibly excited to be part of an organization that views research almost exactly like I do. That is, it should be open-source, transparent, and accessible to anyone. While this is something PL already does well, I will be looking for more ways to support the different organizations within PL to continue pushing the boundaries on what open source research really means. On personal note, I’m still trying to identify where the beans in a cup of coffee originate from just by the first sip, so I’ll be continuously working on that.

What future technology are you most excited about?

This is a broad statement, but I am excited to see how blockchain integration into food supply chains, especially international food supply chains, impacts both the consumers and producers of agricultural goods. Consumers may be able to make purchasing decisions based on higher levels of transparency (such as detailed information on fungicides/herbicides/pesticides/etc.) and increased levels of traceability, allowing for step-by-step information of the “farm to table” concept, and learn more about the individuals who produced the item in the first place, among countless other possibilities. Producers may benefit from smart contracts, which could help smaller producers compete against large multi-national conglomerates, guarantee compensation structures, and increase equity within agricultural systems. I know this may not be the most exciting future technology to some people, but to me anything that can start to bridge the gap between producers and consumers is amazing.