AI and Computing for Local Food Systems

media release: UW Nelson Institute Weston Roundtable lecture, Room 1163.

Speaker:  Alfonso Morales, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Planning and Landscape Architecture, UW–Madison

This lecture reviews topics that broadly deal with the use of computing (and sensing) solutions to address the mounting challenges we face in securing our food systems. The lecture focuses on three dimensions:

• Precision agriculture. This includes micro weather modeling, crop selection and adaptation, land management, real-time sensing for efficient crop watering, fertilization and pest control, etc.
• Intelligent food distribution systems: This covers transportation optimization, local sourcing promotion, distribution and markets, waste management and avoidance (through smart sensing and tracking), etc.
• Inter-silo connections: This includes connections to public health, marketing and consumer behavior, and ecological / ecosystems management and services of farm production.

Morales will expose opportunities for collaboration across these dimensions.

This is a virtual lecture.  Register for Zoom link: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/Vsgt-9ebSa2OGsDil2dTxQ

The Weston Roundtable is made possible by a generous donation from Roy F. Weston, a highly accomplished UW-Madison alumnus. Designed to promote a robust understanding of sustainability science, engineering, and policy, these interactive lectures are co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Office of Sustainability.