By Alice McFarlane

Post secondary students training for the future in agriculture technology

Apr 19, 2023 | 3:43 PM

Graduate students at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) will get a one-of-a-kind training opportunity thanks to a new program.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) CREATE grant in Computational Agriculture will explore the connections between plant and computer sciences at USask.

Dr. Ian Stavness is an associate professor in the College of Arts and Science and the Enhancement Chair at USask’s Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS). He said it is a unique opportunity for advanced training.

“This program builds on the strength that we have at USask in computer and plant science,” Stavness said. “USask has been promoting and cultivating their signature areas [of research] and agriculture is one of them. I think this [funding] is recognition of our current world-leading place in this field.”

Over the course of six years, the program will offer cross-disciplinary training in agricultural and computer science to 87 students. Students in the computer science program will come together with students from the plant sciences program to collaborate on research in agriculture and technology.

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Stavness said one of the critical aspects of this program is the cross-training component.

“Plant sciences students will be trained in data science approaches and programming – areas where they wouldn’t [traditionally] have core training,” he said. “Computer science students will get training in biology, plant genomics, and plant breeding and other core topics they haven’t been exposed to before.”

There will be an equal number of trainee students from both streams exposed to agricultural technology that apply their expertise to agricultural problems.

Stavness said the research outcomes will be ongoing and expects to see research results immediately from the graduate students as they move through the program.

As environmental changes put pressure on the agricultural and food production sectors, using data analysis for sustainability will be key, not only for the students, but also the companies and organizations they will work with during their time in the program.

“There is a lot of interest in agricultural solutions to combat climate change. We have significant challenges with more variable weather conditions in different regions across Canada and around the world,” Stavness said. “With this computational analysis program, we are hoping to support advances to adapt agricultural systems to those changing patterns, making plants and cash crops more resilient to those changing conditions.

Trainees will put their skills to work in rotations or company internships at three training hubs in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The training program will also strengthen the international reputation achieved through the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre at USask.

The Global Institute for Food Security at USask is also a key partner who will be providing professional development and entrepreneurship training for graduate students in the program where they will get a better sense of the real needs for ag-tech companies, organizations, growers, and agronomists, according to Stavness.

“Those needs will certainly drive a lot of the research problems that we will pursue so they can really tackle the most important problems that will have the most impact in the sector,” he said.

Stavness said when students graduate, they are going to be the employees and leaders in agricultural technology companies and entrepreneur activities.

“We see the main outcome is the people and how they will be conducting world-leading research and developing state-of-the-art tools and critical solutions for growers to use to make decisions on the management of their crops,” he said.

NSERC provided a $1.6 million grant for the educational program.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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