Project Personnel
Project Director
Elia Scudiero, Ph.D.
Dr. Scudiero is an Assistant Research Agronomist specializing in soil salinity within the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Scudiero is serving as Project Director for the AI4SA project and is leading the project's applied research component.
Co-Project Directors
Hoori Ajami, Ph.D.
Specializing in catchment hydrology and spatial analysis, Dr. Ajami is utilizing hydrological modeling tools to estimate potential benefits of management in the Colorado River Basin. Dr. Ajami is an Assistant Professor of Groundwater Ecology in UCR's Environmental Sciences department.
Ray G. Anderson, Ph.D.
Dr. Anderson is a research soil scientist in UCR's U.S. Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS. Currently, Dr. Anderson's work involves estimating crop water requirements in the Southwest of the U.S.
View their USDA Profile.
Khaled Bali, Ph.D.
Michael D. Cahn, Ph.D.
Dr. Cahn works as an Irrigation and Water Resource Advisor for University of California's Cooperative Extension for Monterey County. Recently, Dr. Cahn's research and work focus on the development of data-driven tools to support crop, nutrient, and water management.
View their University of California Profile.
Nathaniel Chaney, Ph.D.
Dr. Chaney is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Duke University, whose research centers around the utilization of data in furthering the understanding the terrestrial water cycle. Currently, their research includes creating broad-scale soil maps as part of data-driven tool development.
View their Duke faculty profile.
Karletta Chief, Ph.D.
Dr. Chief works as an Associate professor of Environmental Science as well as an Extension Specialist at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Areas of Dr. Chief’s research include: watershed hydrology and the development of related data-driven tools, soil hydrology, and the effect of and mitigation of climate change-related risks on Indigenous communities.
View their University of Arizona faculty profile.
Ahmed Eldawy, Ph.D.
Dr. Eldawy serves as an Assistant Professor within the Computer Science Department at the University of California, Riverside, and is the creator of the geodatabase for the AI4SA project Currently, Dr. Eldawy's research interests include: databases, big data management, and spatial data processing.
View their website.
Dr. French serves as a Physical Scientist in the Water Management and Conservation Research Unit of the U.S. Arid-Land Agricultural Research Center. As part of the AI4SA project, Dr. French estimates the water requirements of studied crops.
View their USDA Profile.
Dr. Khosla serves as Professor of Precision Agriculture at Colorado State University. Additionally, Dr. Khosla oversees a Precision Agriculture outreach program, providing hands-on workshops and trainings throughout Colorado. Dr. Khosla will conduct research at the upper basin of the Colorado River Basin as part of AI4SA.
View their Faculty Profile.
Dr. McGiffen serves as a Cooperative Extension Specialist in Vegetable Crops at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. McGiffen also works as a plant physiologist, with specialties including invasive species, weed science, sustainable agriculture, and alternatives to methyl bromide.
View their University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Profile
Dr. Nugent serves as the Divisional Dean of Student Academic Affairs in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of California, Riverside. As part of AI4SA, Dr. Nugent is the leader of the educational activities of the project.
Dr. Papalexakis serves as an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Papalexakis's research focus involves tensor decompositions for machine learning and data science.
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Dr. Putman serves as an Assistant Specialist in Cooperative Extension as well as an Assistant Plant Pathologist at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Putman's recent research includes the Vegetable and Strawberry Pathology Program, which focuses on notably fungal-based crop disease in California.
View their UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty Profile.
Dr. Rivera serves as a Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California, Riverside. Some areas of Dr. Rivera's expertise include: Tree Fruits, Subtropical Fruits, and Citrus. As part of AI4SA, Dr. Rivera is working in collaboration with growers to carry out on-farm surveys to support project tool development and testing.
View their UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty Profile.
Dr. Sanchez is a Research Scientist at the University of Arizona within the department of Environmental Science. Dr. Sanchez's focus includes the development of an applied research program to support the low desert region growers of the Southwest in the U.S.
View their University of Arizona Faculty Profile.
Dr. Schwabe is a Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at the University of California, Riverside. Some of Dr. Schwabe's research areas include the economic issues related to water use, agricultural production, and environmental regulation.
View their UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty Profile.
Dr. Skaggs is a Research Leader of the USDA's Agricultural Water Efficiency and Salinity Research Unit located at the University of California, Riverside. As part of AI4SA, Dr. Skaggs will map the soil salinity of farmland and develop and utilize data modeling to support the project's tool development.
View their USDA Profile.
Dr. Vellidis serves as a Professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia. Dr. Vellidis's work focuses on water resources and precision agriculture, based on the utilization of engineering and scientific principles. As part of AI4SA, Dr. Vellidis will work on irrigation scheduling as well as the creation of web applications meant to be utilized by farmers.
View their University of Georgia Faculty Profile.
Fellowship Coordinator
AI4SA is working in collaboration with the University of California, Riverside STEM Pathway Program to support the undergraduate Digital Agriculture Fellowship Program. Nhi Tran is serving as Fellowship Coordinator, and is facilitating AI4SA's Digital Agriculture Fellowship Program.
View the STEM Pathway Program website.
