Insider Brief
- The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa received $2 million from the National Science Foundation to lead a four-year project developing AI-enabled tools to identify environmental threats to food production systems earlier.
- The project will combine AI with environmental sampling, genetic analysis and high-resolution chemical analysis to monitor risks affecting aquaculture, livestock and agricultural systems.
- Researchers plan to test the technology in aquaculture and beef cattle production while using data from metagenomics and high-resolution mass spectrometry to detect earlier warning signs.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has received $2 million from the National Science Foundation to lead a four-year project developing AI-enabled tools aimed at identifying environmental threats to food production systems before they become larger problems.
According to the university, the funding is part of a $4 million NSF Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Track II Focused EPSCoR Collaboration award conducted with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The project began Sept. 1 and marks the second time UH has received an NSF EPSCoR Track II FEC award.
Researchers will combine AI with environmental sampling, genetic analysis and high-resolution chemical analysis to identify and monitor potential risks affecting aquaculture, livestock and agricultural systems, according to UH.
While current monitoring methods can identify problems only after disease outbreaks occur or contaminants reach harmful levels, the university noted the project instead will develop AI models designed to analyze biological and chemical data continuously for earlier warning signs.
The project is led by Tao Yan, director of UH Mānoa’s Water Resources Research Center and a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering. The research team also includes scientists from the College of Engineering, UH Cancer Center, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience.
The models will work with data from metagenomics, which studies genetic material collected from environmental samples, and high-resolution mass spectrometry, a method used to identify chemical compounds. Researchers plan to test the technology in aquaculture and beef cattle production systems.
The collaboration will also provide research opportunities for junior faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and K–12 participants. UH said outreach will include industry partners, regulators and communities, with the broader effort intended to build research capacity and long-term collaboration between Hawaiʻi and Nebraska.
Image credit: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
