As chief scientist for the Leichtag Foundation, Dr. Ari Novy is responsible for advancing and disseminating scientific knowledge, establishing a strategic scientific R&D and outreach roadmap and conducting original scientific research with strategic partners.

Dr. Novy is a plant biologist with a wide range of expertise in plant science and education. He started his career in student support services with New York University. He then worked as an estate gardener in Italy, researched sustainable agriculture in the Philippines, and served as an environmental consultant on infrastructure projects in the northeastern United States.

Dr. Novy is an active researcher, holding an appointment as a research collaborator at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Botany Department. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific papers and regularly speaks on various horticultural and botanical topics nationally and internationally.

Dr. Novy completed his bachelor’s degree at New York University and his doctorate at Rutgers University. He was born in Michigan, but grew up in New Jersey. He currently lives in Encinitas, California, with his wife and two sons.