2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Designing a program for convergent research in Artificial Intelligence and Agriculture

Presented at GSD Work-in-Progress Poster Session

Sustainable agriculture is critical to human survival. Meeting the challenges posed by weather, disease, and pests necessitates creating solutions that call upon skills from the domains of engineering, fundamental plant science research and applied plant biology research. Integrating knowledge across these disciplines requires training students who possess data science literacy within their domains, as well as the ability to bridge gaps in experimentation, analysis, and interpretation between fundamental and applied plant sciences research. Our National Research Traineeship brings together PhD students from engineering, bioinformatics, biomath, and plant and soil sciences to work together in interdisciplinary teams to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to plant science research to address complex issues facing growers. Students participate in a 3-week Summer Graduate Bridge Program and two semester-long courses developed specifically for this program in addition to existing courses to train them in convergence research bridging plant science and AI. Our program represents an ongoing paradigm shift in graduate training in which students develop the meta-cognitive and team management skills to participate in convergence research. Fellows will become global leaders in their chosen STEM careers because in addition to being well-trained within a specific discipline, they will graduate with a greater ability to work across disciplinary boundaries to create holistic solutions to complex problems.

Authors

Dr. Kimberly Bourne North Carolina State University at Raleigh [biography]

Kimberly Bourne PhD is a project coordinator with the GRAD-AID for Ag (Graduate Training in Translational Convergent Research – Harnessing AI and Data Science for Sustainable Agriculture) program at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. She focuses on developing tools, methods, and workshops to increase convergence capacity in cross-disciplinary teams. She is also interested in using team science, novel modelling, and stakeholder engagement methods to improve environmental decision-making.
Dr. Catherine E. Brawner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-7599 Research Triangle Educational Consultants [biography]

Catherine E. Brawner is President of Research Triangle Educational Consultants. She received her Ph.D.in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from NC State University in 1996. She also has an MBA from Indiana University (Bloomington) and a bachelors degree from Duke University. She specializes in evaluation and research in higher ed STEM disciplines.
Dr. Terri Long NC State University [biography]

Dr. Terri Long is a Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at North Carolina State University. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Georgia in 2005. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Long conducted postdoctoral research at Duke University in Dr. Philip Benfey's lab. She then served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago before joining the faculty at NC State in 2011.
Dr. Long's research group employs molecular and systems biology approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant nutrient stress responses. Her teaching primarily focuses on the fundamentals of plant physiology. She served as the Platform Director for Education and Workforce Development for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of strategic programs to cultivate the next generation of leaders in plant science, 2022-2025.
Dr. Long received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) from US White House in January, 2025. Additionally, Dr. Long serves as Lead Principal Investigator for the NSF Research Traineeship program Graduate Training in Translational Convergent Research - Harnessing AI and Data Science for Sustainable Agriculture (GRAD AID for Ag), an initiative to equip doctoral students with interdisciplinary expertise at the nexus of plant science and artificial intelligence, fostering innovation in sustainable agriculture. She currently, serves as Head of the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at N. C. State University.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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