GEMS Labs Overview
GEMS Labs are the research and development engine behind the GEMS Service offerings. Their primary organizational role is to identify high-impact areas for new agrifood technologies, prototype new technologies, and test them with potential end users. Those technologies that demonstrate sufficient interest to be self-sustaining financially are either converted into a GEMS Service Organization (Platform, Exchange, Sensing, or other new vertical) or licensed through the U of M’s Office of Technology Commercialization to external organizations who can help fulfil the University’s mission of using technology to solve grand challenges for the benefit of all people.
Secondary and tertiary roles of labs are the training of undergraduate and graduate students and the development of new educational modules for GEMS Learning. Through our labs, students learn-by-doing, working in close mentorship and collaboration with GEMS Informatics Center staff. Each lab maintains a pool of modules in GEMS Learning reflecting that groups’ unique expertise. Undergraduate and graduate research assistants coming from GEMS Labs are in high demand at graduation, being employed by prestigious organizations such as NASA, Amazon, and other firms renowned for their science and engineering excellence.
Gems Labs Description
Chai Lab: Agricultural Technology Evaluation & Risk Management
Work focuses on assessing the impact of agricultural technologies on productivity growth and the management of various biotic and abiotic risks endangering global food production. Research and development supports the GEMS Exchange and GEMS Learning Service Organizations at the University of Minnesota. Read more about Chai Lab.
Research Objectives
- Understanding the historical and future trends in agricultural productivity growth from spatial-temporal explicit perspectives.
- Addressing the various biotic and abiotic stresses endangering global food production.
- Exploring policies and practices that support sustainable agricultural production under uncertain future climate
conditions.
Greyling Lab: Socio-Economics of Innovation and Sustainable Agricultural Productivity
Work focuses on the analysis of long-term trends in, and drivers of, agricultural productivity. With a global team of data-intensive researchers, we systematically explore the nexus between R&D, technology, climate, and policy dynamics on sustainable agricultural performance, with emphasis on medium- to longer- term outcomes. Read more about Greyling Lab.
Research Objectives
- Quantifying Long-Term Spatially Disaggregated Productivity Performance
- Assessing Global Agricultural R&D Spending and Innovative Activity
- Exploring the Technology, R&D, Climate, and Policy Nexus
Joglekar Lab: International Spatial-Dynamics of Agricultural Production
Work focuses on the spatially-explicit characterization of farming, agribusiness, and ag commodity markets throughout the developing and developed worlds. Research and development support the GEMS Sensing, GEMS Exchange, and GEMS Learning services provided by the University of Minnesota. Read more about Joglekar Lab.
Research Objectives
Advance the state-of-the-art in spatial bioeconomics to:
- Develop and refine methods to spatially disaggregate survey data
- Create timely estimates of disaggregated agricultural production estimates throughout the world.
- Support the creation of strong market linkages throughout agri-food value chains, particularly in the developing world
Runck Lab: Real-time Geoinformation Systems
Work focuses on real-time geospatial data systems (hardware and software) applied to agricultural systems. Research & development supports the GEMS Sensing & GEMS Learning Service Organizations at the University of Minnesota. Read more about Runck Lab.
Research Objectives
Advance the state-of-the-art in geographic information science in order to:
- Identify applied solutions for more efficient and effective integration of real-time spatial data and models to advance agricultural research, management, and policy.
- Identify and test generalizable principles underlying the spatial and temporal dynamics of agent interactions (e.g. human-human, human-environment, environment-plant, etc)
Senay Lab: Biotic Threat Analytics
Research in the lab focuses on advancing methods used to assess biotic threats and their impacts on agriculture, the environment or humans. Research in this lab feeds into the GEMS Exchange, GEMS Solutions & GEMS Learning areas of service in the GEMS informatics center. Read more about Senay Lab.
Research Objectives
- Research on analytical methods that would improve automated pest incidence detection based on NLP, image analysis or geospatial analytical methods.
- Identify, improve, or develop novel species distribution and dispersal simulating models for better understanding of biotic threat risk over a given landscape.
Silverstein Lab: Predictive Analytics for Crop Systems
Activities in the lab advance crop systems via new and emerging data analytic technologies. Research and development in the group ultimately supports the GEMS Exchange. Read more about Silverstein Lab.
Research Objectives
Advance the state-of-the-art in crop predictive analytics in order to:
- Enable farming decision makers to increase yield, simultaneously improve multiple quality attributes of their crops, and minimize damage to the environment.
- Enable breeders and growers to adjust to ever-changing climate conditions while minimizing crop losses and maximizing quality.