N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative

🌱 Please Join Us Nov. 20 for a Special Seminar "From Genes to Fields: Integrating Biotechnology and Endophytes for Agricultural Resilience" 🌱 From noon to 1 p.m. Nov. 20, the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative will host a seminar by Linda. Johnson, science group manager for #ResilientAgriculture with the New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science Limited's AgResearch. Johnson is a fungal molecular biologist with over 20 years of experience investigating beneficial microbial endophytes. Her special interests include plant #biotechnology, #microbiomes, Epichloë-derived secondary metabolites and the application of #CRISPR for #geneediting of endophytes and forages. Details: https://lnkd.in/e-JRg6Yf

🎉 Welcoming Our New Platform Director of Extension Outreach and Engagement 🎉 David Suchoff, a faculty member with NC State University - Crop & Soil Sciences, will soon take the reins of the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative’s Extension Outreach and Engagement Platform, as platform director Rachel Vann departs for a faculty position at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at the end of November. Learn more about the platform, Suchoff's background and Vann's contributions: https://lnkd.in/eGRUmWu3

Check out this video from the The Washington Post https://lnkd.in/epeaPPDj? to learn more about how research teams from the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and across the U.S. are using #artificialintelligence to reduce crop damage and increase farm yields. The video highlights N.C. PSI-related projects for helping farmers make better cover cropping decisions and to speed nematode detection and classification. Three experts affiliated with the N.C. PSI get screen time: Chris Reberg-Horton and Alexander Allen of NC State University - Crop & Soil Sciences), Edgar Lobaton of NC State Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Adrienne Gorny of NC State Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AgTech #SmartFarming #PrecisionAgriculture #DigitalFarming #FutureOfAgriculture   NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences NC State College of Engineering Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs

You’re Invited: Nov. 6 🎨 Art + Science 🔬 Reception Join the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and the Gregg Museum of Art & Design for a public reception on Nov. 6 celebrating a fall artist’s residency that brought Leah Sobsey to North Carolina State University. Sobsey, an image maker and associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, takes a multidisciplinary, experimental approach to art, creating photo-based works that incorporate textiles and other materials and explore science and the natural world. Over the past semester, Sobsey has shadowed three Ph.D. students working to solve plant-related challenges: Adarsha Devihalli (forestry and genetics), Hannah Pil (genetics) and Mohammadreza Zare (chemical and biomolecular engineering). > Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/eBsPSgxg The reception is part of a series of NC State events and exhibitions this fall that have focused on the beauty, function and diversity of plants. The series is a result of a partnership among NC State’s Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs, the Gregg Museum and the N.C. PSI, with sponsorship from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Note: the photo featured here, by Sobsey, is part of In Search of Thoreau's Flowers, now on display at the Gregg Museum. https://lnkd.in/esxBE82h

Congratulations to Dr. Steven Lommel on his well-deserved retirement from North Carolina State University! It was an honor to work with him on the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative. The Governor recognized his remarkable leadership and contributions by awarding him The Order of the Long Leaf Pine - one of North Carolina’s highest honors. Throughout his career agriculture evolved at a rapid pace, but Steve always stayed one step ahead. He championed innovation, inspired collaboration, and drove research that improved lives across the state, nation, and world. Enjoy retirement my friend!

In the latest episode of his #AgTech 360 podcast, Adrian Percy talks with Chris Whitney, chief digital officer Monarch Tractor, about the company’s fully electric, driver-optional tractor and how it's redefining power and productivity on the farm. Listen in to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eN-kmvM9

Congratulations, and thank you, to Steven Lommel. While the NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences associate dean for research is retiring, he remains focused on North Carolina’s agricultural future. Read more about his role in creating the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative, his decision to serve as one of our external advisers and his thoughts on the importance of big, bold #interdisciplinary discoveries. https://lnkd.in/ecfYpmiR #agresearch #aginnovation Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs

Artificial intelligence is changing #agriculture, and our faculty affiliates are helping lead the way. A recent alumni magazine story on the NC State College of Engineering's Applied AI in Engineering and Computer Science initiative highlights #AIinAg projects from Cranos Williams and Yaroslava Yingling: Led by Williams, the Sweet-APPS project is using imaging and sensor tools that analyze #sweetpotatoes by size, shape and surface quality and link that data to the fields they came from. The goal: to help growers make more informed decisions about sorting and selling crops, maximizing value and matching the right sweetpotatoes to the right markets. Meanwhile, Yingling has developed AI-driven technology to predict levels of over 20 compounds in groundwater at any site. Recognizing that high levels of salts, heavy metals and other chemicals in groundwater can stunt or kill plants, lower crop yields, threaten livestock and harm the health of farmers who draw drinking water from wells, she's working on #waterquality tools to help farmers run what-if scenarios. Such tools could help farmers save them time and money while protecting the health of people and the planet. https://lnkd.in/ewf8uPar Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs

🌱 ATTN: This is a great opportunity to network and learn about the latest in #ControlledEnvironmentAg, and growers and NC State faculty members, researchers and Extension agents who sign up by Oct. 31 can get in #free! See the link and promo code below.

This should be a great opportunity to catch up on important research from N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative faculty affiliate Justin Whitehill!