{"683370":{"#nid":"683370","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Abigail R. Cohen","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. Thesis Defense Announcement\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESEEDING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURE\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Abigail R. Cohen\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdvisor:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDr. Yongsheng Chen\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommittee Members:\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp; Dr. Xing Xie (CEE), Dr. Katherine Graham (CEE), Dr. Ameet Pinto (CEE), Dr. Rhuanito Soranz Ferrarezi (University of Georgia)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDate and Time:\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp; August 12, 2025. 2:00 \u2013 4:00 PM EST\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELocation: \u003Cstrong\u003EES\u0026amp;T 3229, or on\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/91944860162?pwd=uoP8WKonbrkZs7InDcUSnxCbe6jfwg.1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZoom\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EABSTRACT\u003Cbr\u003EHuman activity dominates earth\u2019s biogeochemical cycles, with agriculture\u003Cbr\u003Eprevailing as one of the most consequential aggregate of processes on the planet.\u003Cbr\u003EAs the basis for supporting life and all human activity, agriculture provides a critical\u003Cbr\u003Eopportunity to mitigate some of these consequences through nutrient management\u003Cbr\u003Etechnology. While improvements to sensing, imaging, and computation can help\u003Cbr\u003Eprecision fertilization, phenotyping bottlenecks and a lack of unified modeling\u003Cbr\u003Eapproaches prevent scaling of precision nutrient management approaches. This\u003Cbr\u003Ework provides a comprehensive critical review of technologies for nutrient\u003Cbr\u003Emanagement in controlled environment agriculture (CEA), synthesizing literature\u003Cbr\u003Einto a modular \u201csystem of compartments\u201d framework called dynamically controlled\u003Cbr\u003Eenvironment agriculture (DCEA).Recognizing bottlenecks and the need for modular, non-destructive nutrient\u003Cbr\u003Emanagement models, we conducted a pilot-scale multimodal greenhouse\u003Cbr\u003Eexperiment using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) and multispectral imaging (MSI) to\u003Cbr\u003Eexpand DCEA. The experiment tested the limits of nutrient removal efficiency,\u003Cbr\u003Edemonstrating significantly lower nutrient concentrations (50% of recommended)\u003Cbr\u003Ecould yield lettuce with over 75% fresh weight compared to the control, with healthy\u003Cbr\u003Etissue nitrogen concentrations. Next, the study provided a proof-of-concept using\u003Cbr\u003EVision Transformer (ViT) deep learning (DL) architecture for regression analysis of\u003Cbr\u003Eraw HSI data, bypassing the lengthy preprocessing pipelines typical of HSI-DL\u003Cbr\u003Eapproaches and facilitating end-to-end analysis.\u003Cbr\u003EFinally, a novel application of autoencoders (AE), a lightweight, adaptable DL\u003Cbr\u003Emodel, was deployed for anomalous growth detection using the in vivo MSI data.\u003Cbr\u003EAdditionally, the study included an innovative energy use comparison of models\u003Cbr\u003Espanning the efficiency-accuracy spectrum (random forest and ViT), directly\u003Cbr\u003Eaddressing the environmental impacts of nutrient management automation and the\u003Cbr\u003Eapplication of automation in resource-constrained edge environments. Results\u003Cbr\u003Erevealed a 2% reduction in nitrogen application could completely offset the energy\u003Cbr\u003Euse of the most complex DL model evaluated. Together, the work provides a\u003Cbr\u003Eroadmap for resource-aware nutrient management modeling for precision\u003Cbr\u003Eagriculture to facilitate environmentally sustainable food production.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESEEDING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURE\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"SEEDING NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DIGITAL AGRICULTURE"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2025-07-30 12:44:27","changed_gmt":"2025-07-30 12:44:56","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2025-08-12T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2025-08-12T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2025-08-12T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2025-08-12 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2025-08-12 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2025-08-12 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":" ES\u0026T 3229, or on Zoom","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}