Grad Students Dig Into AI for Ag
With the goal of preparing a future-proof workforce at the intersection of plant science and artificial intelligence, NC State’s GRAD-AID for Ag program got off to a great start this summer, with nine Ph.D. students exploring N.C. farms and agricultural technology and analytics companies and taking part in a weeklong academic camp.
The innovative National Science Foundation-funded research traineeship equips students with the ability to integrate lab-derived multi-omics datasets with field data, leveraging the statistical analyses, machine learning, artificial neural networks, and other artificial intelligence approaches to accelerate translation of basic plant science research to the field.
By the end of their training, the fellows will have completed the requirements for NC State’s Ag Data Analytics Certificate.
GRAD-AID for Ag fellows come from several different disciplines, including Crop and Soil Sciences, Genetics and Genomics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Bioinformatics Biomathematics, and Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Preparing Students to Tackle Complex Ag Challenges
The program’s principal investigator is Terri A. Long, a professor of plant and microbial biology professor who serves as the N.C. PSI’s platform director for education and workforce development. Kim Bourne is the project coordinator.
As Long said in announcing the five-year program’s launch, GRAD-AID for Ag represents an important step in training students to tackle agricultural challenges that require an interdisciplinary approach, blending basic and applied sciences along with knowledge of artificial intelligence.
“Agriculture’s success depends on our ability to produce plants that tolerate increasing heat, drought and extreme weather events while requiring fewer resources, such as land and fertilizer, for growth,” Long explained. “These things are affecting people’s lives not just in the future but right now, and artificial intelligence can help us overcome these challenges.”
Stops Along the Way
During the program’s three-week Summer Graduate Bridge Program leading up to the start of NC State’s 2025-26 academic year, the students visited with representatives of BASF, Syngenta, The Traits Co., IBM, Novonesis, Pairwise, Envu, Nufarm and SAS, as well as several N.C. PSI Seed2Grow startup companies and the N.C. Biotechnology Center. These activities were organized by Kathleen Denya, the N.C. PSI’s director of innovation partnerships.
The GRAD-AID for Ag fellows also learned about NC State research and extension activities at the Upper Coastal Plain Agricultural Research Station in Rocky Mount, the Vernon G. James Research and Extension Center and Tidewater Research Station in Plymouth and the Central Crops Research Station in Clayton.
Other stops included Hal Bateman’s farm in Tyrrell County, Scattered Acres Farm, Griffin Farms in Beaufort County and several other Eastern North Carolina farms. At the 2025 Blackland Farm Managers Tour at Green Valley Farms, the students engaged with both farmers and N.C. Cooperative Extension agents.
To stay up to date on activities, connect with GRAD-AID for Ag on LinkedIn. Here are a few snapshots from the fellow’s journey.
This post was originally published in Plant Sciences Initiative.
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