Agriculture is critical to our survival, economy, health, habitat and security

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Alabama A & M University $600,000 on January 15, 2026, under the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants program (CFDA 10.216) to develop a nationally recognized graduate education and research program in agri-ecosystem data science.

Alabama A & M will develop a data science specialization within its existing MS and PhD degree programs in plant and soil science, natural resources, and ecology. The specialization integrates interdisciplinary life science fields—biostatistics, bioinformatics, geostatistics, geographic information systems, and remote sensing—with critical data science courses from computer science and mathematics. The program embeds hands-on research training in ongoing applied agricultural and bio-ecosystem research, positioning graduates to analyze complex agricultural datasets and support decision-making for agricultural producers.

The project targets workforce development in support of HBCU Executive Order objectives, with the major outcome being an increased skilled workforce prepared for agricultural data science roles. The specialization will engage the land-grant triumvirate of teaching, research, and extension, while also supporting recruitment and partnerships with public and private entities.

Performance occurs in Normal and Huntsville, Alabama. The period of performance runs through January 14, 2029.

Like other stemfields, the production and consumption of food and food systems amidst a data revolution.massive quantities of data are generated daily in agricultural fields BIO-ecosystems andfood transport and safety. The demand for trained applied data scientists' experts who canuncover the hidden information from complex agricultural datasets and correctly convey itto the producers and decision-makers is increasing as evidenced by projected workforceneed predictions. The overarching mission of this project is to develop nationallyrecognized graduate education and research program in agri-ecosystem data science ataamu by developing a data science specialization within the existing MS and PHD degreeprograms that support plant and soil science natural resource and ecology. The two majorgoals of this project are to 1) develop the curriculum forthespecialization that featuresinterdisciplinary engagement of life science fields (biostatistics bioinformaticsgeostatistics geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing) by integratingcritical data science courses from relevant academic areas such as computer science andmathematics; and 2) integrate data science with the ongoing applied research inagricultural and BIO-ecosystem fields with the emphasis of providing hands-on researchtrainings for graduate students. The data science specialization will not only touch the landgrant triumvirate of teaching research and extension but also other public and privateentities and enhance the student recruitment. The major outcome of this project would bean increased number of skilled workforces that support hbcu executive order byimproving workforce preparedness.