Purdue University has announced a $500,000 grant to play an education and workforce development role in the $20 million AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE).
According to the press release, Purdue’s role will be to guide the collaboration’s development and deployment of instructional modules and other education related to digital agriculture and artificial intelligence in climate-smart agriculture.
AI-CLIMATE is led by the University of Minnesota and includes Cornell University, Colorado State University, Delaware State University, North Carolina State University, and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
Researchers at AI-CLIMATE will work to improve the accuracy and lower the cost of accounting for carbon and greenhouse gases in farms and forests. Operating together they will use data science and high-performance computing to accelerate information processing in ways that can exceed human capabilities.
The AI Institute’s outreach activities will add content to existing courses and possibly add courses for undergraduate and graduate students. The institute will also develop learning opportunities for agriculture professionals who work with farmers.
AI-CLIMATE is reportedly one of seven AI Institutes funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is part of a larger federal initiative totaling nearly half a billion dollars to bolster collaborative artificial intelligence research across the country.