Josh Schneider studied horticulture and business at the University of Illinois. In 2001 he began a job at a large ornamental young plant nursery in San Diego. While there he developed an international network of more than 75 independent plant breeders and assisted them in germplasm acquisition, breeding program development, tissue culture, clean stock development, patent and trademark applications, comprehensive trial programs and global distribution.
In 2007 Josh founded Cultivaris North America with two partners as a product and idea development consultancy. Cultivaris managed the development and launch of many top new ornamental plants. The flagship product was the introduction of the Wollemi Pine in North America. Wollemia nobilis is a prehistoric conifer thought to have become extinct 100 million years ago. Working in partnership with the Australian government and the National Geographic Society® in the US, the tree was commercialized and sold to raise money for conservation efforts to preserve the last remaining native stand.
Josh and his team developed the first technology for propagating traditional Polynesian Breadfruit trees (Artocarpus altilis) using tissue culture. A novel agreement between Cultivaris and the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden created a revenue sharing model from the sale of each tree. Proceeds from the benefit-sharing revenue were split equally between the Breadfruit Institute and the country of each variety’s origin (Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii). Since 2007 Josh and his team’s work planting 400,000+ breadfruit trees in the tropics is currently providing food for communities across Africa and the Caribbean with an acre of breadfruit producing the equivalent of 40 acres of cereal grain.
In 2019 Josh founded Cultivaris Hemp to supply high-quality hemp young plants to farmers around the US. As a thought leader in hemp policy and regulatory structure, Josh has been closely involved in advocacy, education and policy development for the emerging US hemp industry. Recently Josh’s policy framework for a new federal hemp licensing structure has been incorporated into both the US House and Senate Farm Bill drafts for regulating hemp cultivation.
Josh has also been involved in the pharmaceutical and wellness markets as a consultant and advisor on medicinal plant supply chain development, cultivation systems and conservation efforts. He is currently developing systems of invitro propagation for endangered plants used as ingredients in dietary supplements with a goal of eliminating pressure on shrinking wild populations and providing cultivation opportunities for underserved populations.