Assistant/Associate Professor: Applied Artificial Intelligence

University of Florida•Hillsborough, FL

13d•Onsite

About The Position

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. This is a 9-month tenure-accruing position that will be 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 30% extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), based at the Agricultural AI Institute within the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. The faculty member is expected to develop an externally funded research and Extension program in their area of expertise. The position is part of a cohort of new hires for the GCREC Agricultural AI Institute that will focus on the development, advancement, and deployment of applied artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture with an emphasis on automation and efficiency in specialty crop production. The successful candidate will advance the Institute’s research mission by developing, validating, and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) innovations into field-ready agricultural technologies that address crop production challenges including, but not limited to, weed, disease, and insect detection, nutrient deficiency identification, crop characterization, and yield estimation. The successful candidate will develop, adapt, and integrate AI models into production systems for targeted spraying, precision mapping, spatial analysis, sensor-based automation, and other advanced agricultural uses. The faculty member will play a key role in technology transfer by collaborating with multidisciplinary faculty, growers, equipment manufacturers, and agricultural technology companies to deploy and evaluate AI-enabled systems. Responsibilities include coordinating field demonstrations, providing technical expertise during implementation, collecting engineering and performance feedback, and supporting the refinement of technologies as they progress toward commercial readiness. The extension component will include the development of a successful educational program to accelerate commercial adoption and evaluation of AI-based agricultural technologies with the goal of improving the profitability and environmental sustainability of Florida’s fruit and vegetable industry. Examples of extension include workshops with growers, field days, online resources, county extension partnerships, extension publications, and decision-support systems. Candidates with strong academic backgrounds that also demonstrate the ability to work with applied systems will be preferred. The candidate will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment consisting of industry partners and faculty in agricultural and biological engineering, economics, entomology, horticulture, microbiology, plant pathology, soil science, and weed science. A successful candidate is expected to embrace all three missions the Land-grant university system: Research, Extension, and Teaching. The candidate is required to establish a strong, externally funded, research program, and promote their research activity and leadership in professional societies as well as sustained publication activity in top scientific journals. The candidate is encouraged to collaborate with other faculty and research partners, creating synergy both inside and outside of the University of Florida. The successful candidate will participate actively in undergraduate and graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis, dissertation and undergraduate research, and publishing research results with students. Faculty are encouraged to participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising and may teach courses and seminars.

Requirements

A doctorate (foreign equivalent acceptable) in Engineering, Computer Science, Horticultural Sciences or a closely related discipline is required.
Demonstrated excellence in verbal and written communication skills.
Proven ability to participate in collaborative efforts and procurement of external funding.
Experience with machine learning, computer vision, and/or experience with AI deployment in agricultural systems is necessary.
Must be supportive of the mission of the University Land-Grant system.
Must have a commitment to UF core values.

Nice To Haves

Applied, interdisciplinary scientist.
Experience with horticultural crops, agricultural technology for horticultural crops, sensors, or precision-ag systems is preferred.
Proven experience training AI models and creation of synthetic imagery is desired.
Familiarity with Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, ROS, edge AI platforms, remote sensing tools and field-ready hardware integration is an advantage.

Responsibilities

Develop an externally funded research and Extension program in their area of expertise.
Develop, validate, and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) innovations into field-ready agricultural technologies.
Address crop production challenges including, but not limited to, weed, disease, and insect detection, nutrient deficiency identification, crop characterization, and yield estimation.
Develop, adapt, and integrate AI models into production systems for targeted spraying, precision mapping, spatial analysis, sensor-based automation, and other advanced agricultural uses.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary faculty, growers, equipment manufacturers, and agricultural technology companies to deploy and evaluate AI-enabled systems.
Coordinate field demonstrations, provide technical expertise during implementation, collect engineering and performance feedback, and support the refinement of technologies.
Develop a successful educational program to accelerate commercial adoption and evaluation of AI-based agricultural technologies.
Embrace all three missions of the Land-grant university system: Research, Extension, and Teaching.
Establish a strong, externally funded, research program.
Promote research activity and leadership in professional societies.
Sustain publication activity in top scientific journals.
Collaborate with other faculty and research partners.
Participate actively in undergraduate and graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis, dissertation and undergraduate research, and publishing research results with students.
Participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising.
May teach courses and seminars.