The Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation has recently awarded a grant to continue advances in precision agriculture and STEM education to Dr. Wei-zhen Liang University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Biological Systems Engineering. She is based at Scottsbluff's UNL Panhandle Research Extension and Education Center.
“The initiative integrates advanced technologies, including cameras, weather stations, and soil moisture sensors, to monitor grapevine health. The primary goal is to develop and validate an early disease detection algorithm and improve water management practices on grapevine,” Liang said. Her team will work to develop and validate an early disease detection algorithm and improve water management practices on the grapevines.
The project will also offer students hands-on learning opportunities and internships for undergraduate students and include some precision agriculture and drone demonstrations for elementary to high school students at educational events. Her team includes students from Western Nebraska Community College who are getting experiential learning opportunities engaging in cutting-edge technologies and real-world agricultural challenges.
“My students actively contribute to the solutions that benefit local growers while gaining essential skills for their future careers,” she said.
Liang also has two projects with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) dealing with water stress management and disease detection for grapevines at the Viticulture and Small Fruit Research Center of Florida A&M University. Along with building AI and machine learning capacity for muscadine grapevine research also at Florida A&M University.
Another project is with the National Science Foundation (NSF) ExLENT, which integrates advanced technologies, including cameras, weather stations, and soil moisture sensors, to monitor grapevine health.
