Baskin School of Engineering’s innovations in agricultural technology contribute to addressing climate impacts and support sustainability, part of UC Santa Cruz’s long history of thoughtful leadership in agroecology and sustainable food systems.
Student team wins ‘Excellence in Safety’ award at second Farm Robotics Challenge
For the past few years on the UC Santa Cruz farm, a team of students known as the Electrified Slugs has been iterating on software to control a small electric tractor, making it capable of self-driving along plant lines and pulling weeds.
This work led the Electrified Slugs to turn their attention to another challenge: the critical issue of worker safety within human-robot interaction.
Research in action
Multidisciplinary team will develop advanced rhizosphere carbon imaging for climate change research with support of major DOE grant
A team of researchers at UC Santa Cruz and Stanford University are leading a new project in which they aim to use dynamic imaging and modeling of carbon in the rhizosphere to answer longstanding questions about how carbon moves through the soil and plant root interface.
Leaf wetness sensor will enable better plant disease forecasting and management
An interdisciplinary team of researchers created a new type of sensor for more accurately measuring leaf wetness which will enable better plant disease forecasting and management.
Katia Obraczka appointed director of CITRIS at UC Santa Cruz
Katia Obraczka, professor of Computer Science and Engineering, has been appointed director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute at UC Santa Cruz.
Electrical engineer wins award to support improvement of efficient, low-cost agricultural soil sensor systems
UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Colleen Josephson is a recipient of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) 2022 New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award.
Engineer deploys research on ‘mud batteries’ for powering sustainable agriculture
UC Santa Cruz Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Colleen Josephson published new research on the current state and future potential of microbial fuel cells for powering sustainable agriculture systems.
Innovating agriculture for a greener world
UCSC student Eric Vetha aims to revolutionize agriculture and environmental sustainability as part of Frontier Fellows program, bridging his robotics expertise to find sustainable methods to better Earth’s future.
BE experts
Shiva Abbaszadeh
Becca Fenwick
Javier Gonzalez-Rocha
Colleen Josephson
Nobby Kobayashi
Michael Matkin
Steve McGuire
Dejan Milutinović
Katia Obraczka
Zouheir Rezki
Marco Rolandi
Ricardo Sanfelice
Norman Su
For media inquiries contact: Emily Cerf, Engineering Writer and Media Relations Specialist: ecerf@ucsc.edu
AgTech at UCSC
Emerging technologies have the potential to dramatically reshape the agri-food system. UC Santa Cruz aims to transform agriculture through innovation, education, research, and empowerment. Our interdisciplinary expertise guides engineers, activists, farmers, and others on a path to socially responsible technology for a sustainable future.
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