USDA Awards $162K to Double AI-Powered Agricultural Research at New College of Florida

SARASOTA, Fla. — New College of Florida has received a $162,000 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service to expand hands-on, student-led AI research that helps protect crops and reduce post-harvest losses.

The funding will support internships for up to eight students during the spring and summer semesters, enabling close collaboration with USDA researchers to develop practical tools for growers. Projects combine artificial intelligence, historical crop records and computer vision to forecast damage, detect pests and guide more targeted interventions.

AI Meets the Orchard

One highlighted project focuses on pistachio orchards in California. Graduate student Elif Yildirim built a computer-vision model to distinguish navel orangeworm eggs from larvae on sticky trap liners placed in the field.

"They grow on such a large scale, so little losses add up very quickly and they have a lot of things to keep track of during the season," Elif said. "If growers can narrow when pests will hatch, they can limit pesticide applications to a short window instead of spraying all season long."

Elif also consolidated disparate crop-loss records into a unified dataset to train a damage-prediction model that could help forecast losses from drought, pests and other stressors.

Tools for Ports, Pollinators and Production

Other student projects include an interactive dashboard that visualizes pest-inception records associated with agricultural imports at U.S. ports of entry, work on optimizing dairy operations, and analysis of bee audio data to predict foraging behavior. These practical prototypes demonstrate how student research can translate into tools that support decision-making for producers and regulators.

"Going out and talking to the real scientists who work on those topics every day is such a challenge, but it’s a good challenge to have. It’s an exciting challenge to have," said Dr. Bernhard Klingenberg, professor of statistics and director of applied data science at New College of Florida.

The reporting for this story was compiled by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon from information provided by New College of Florida, program faculty and participating students.

Why It Matters

By combining AI and domain expertise, these student-driven projects aim to reduce unnecessary pesticide use, limit post-harvest waste and improve forecasting of crop damage—benefits that can save growers money and reduce environmental impacts.