Lab Missions
The lab’s mission is to conduct cutting-edge research on integrated precision management/applications of digital technologies, data analytics, automation, or models to modern poultry production systems and beyond. Research topics include poultry smart sensing and environmental control, applied artificial intelligence, robotics, automated animal welfare assessment, digital phenotyping, three-dimensional reconstruction, and automatic behavior monitoring and analytics. The team working environments are diverse, inclusive, and equitable.
Current Lab Members

Name: Guoming Li
Role: Principle Investigator (12/2022-present)
Introduction: Dr. Li is the PI of Intelligent Systems for Poultry Laboratory and assistant professor at the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia. He is also an affiliated faculty member at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture, and School of Computing. He was a post-doc at Iowa State University before joining UGA. He got his PhD from Mississippi State University and B.S./M.S. degrees from China Agricultural University.
Teaching: 1) POUL(AESC) 8270 Applied Deep Learning-Based Computer Visions in Agricultural Systems (Spring semester); 2) POUL(AESC) 6270 Introductory Machine Learning for Data Analytics in Agricultural Systems (Fall semester).
Email: gmli@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | ResearchGates | GitHub | Linkedin

Name: Venkat Umesh Chandra Bodempudi
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (02/2023-present)
Introduction: PhD student at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of UGA.
Dissertation: Intelligent Systems for Poultry Production (Tentative).
Email: venkatucb@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | Linkedin

Name: Oluwadamilola Moyin Oso
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (08/2023-present)
Introduction: PhD student at the Department of Poultry Science of UGA.
Dissertation: Automatic Behavior Analytics and Welfare Assessment of Broiler Chickens (Tentative).
Email: oluwadamilola.oso@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | Linkedin

Name: Aravind Mandiga
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (11/2023-present)
Introduction: PhD student at the School of Computing of UGA.
Dissertation: Robotic learning for poultry (Tentative, co-advised with Dr. Tianming Liu).
Email: aravind.mandiga@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | Linkedin

Name: Mahtab Saeidifar
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (08/2023-present)
Introduction: M.S. in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of UGA.
Thesis: Applying foundation segmentation algorithms to assess poultry phenotypes and welfare.
Email: mahtab.saeidifar@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | Linkedin

Name: Ehsan Asali
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (08/2023-present)
Introduction: Ph.D. candidate in School of Computing of UGA.
Dissertation: Spatiotemporal multimodal representation learning for activity understanding and behavior monitoring (co-advertised with Dr. Tianming Liu)
Email: ehsanasali@uga.edu
GoogleScholar | ResearchGate | GitHub | Linkedin

Name: Hosna Mohammadilalabadi
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (07/2024-present)
Introduction: PhD student in the Department of Poultry Science at UGA.
Dissertation: Development and optimization of multiple sensors and sensing techniques for precision broiler management (Tentative).
Email: hosna.mohammadilalabadi@uga.edu
GoogleScholar

Name: Anna Hu
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (09/2024-present)
Introduction: M.S. in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of UGA.
Thesis: Spatiotemporal Multimodal Representation Learning for Activity Understanding and Behavior Monitoring (Tentative, co-advised with Dr. Catherine Edwards).
Email: anna.hu1@uga.edu
Linkedin

Name: William Olan Holden
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (02/2025-present)
Introduction: M.S. in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence of UGA.
Thesis: Automatic kinematics and behavior analytics for two genetic lines of broiler chickens (Tentative).
Email: william.holden@uga.edu
Linkedin
Former Lab Members

Name: Nakyia C. Bessard-Lezin
Role: Undergraduate Researcher (09/2024-04/2025)
Introduction: B.S. in electrical and electronics engineering at UGA.
Project: Automatic sorting of broken and intact eggs using tactile sensors.
Email: nakyia.bessardlezin@uga.edu

Name: Atharva Agashe
Role: Undergraduate Researcher (01/2025-04/2025)
Introduction: B.S. in shool of computing at UGA.
Project: Comparison of You Only Look Once models for identifying broiler chickens in group settings.
Email: atharva.agashe@uga.edu

Name: Wissam Fekir
Role: Undergraduate Researcher (09/2024-04/2025)
Introduction: B.S. in mechanical engineering at UGA.
Project: The use of hough line transforms in robotic path applications.
Email: wissam.fekir@uga.edu

Name: Tongshuai Liu
Role: Visiting Professor (01/2024-09/2024)
Introduction: Dr. Liu is an associate professor at the College of Animal Science & Technology at Henan University of Animal Husbandry and Economy. His major research interest is improving the air quality of livestock environments. He led the broiler experiment trials of Cobb Research Initiative during his stay at UGA.
Email: tongshuai@hnuahe.edu.cn

Name: Sai Akshitha Reddy Kota
Role: Graduate Research Assistant (01/2024-12/2024)
Introduction: M.S. in School of Computing at UGA. She got an internship opportunity as a data scientist in HEXstream immediately after the assistantship in the group.
Project: Enhancing Consistency and Efficiency of Tracking Multiple Individual Broilers in Group Settings.
Email: saiakshithareddy.kota@uga.edu
Linkedin

Name: Satchit Seth
Role: Undergraduate Researcher (09/2024-12/2024)
Introduction: B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering major with a CS minor at UGA.
Project: Floor egg detection via deep learning object detection models.
Email: satchit.seth@uga.edu
Student Awards
Awards received by Dr. Li’s graduate students and trainees at the university, national, and international levels:
Student | Year | Name of awards |
Mahtab Saeidifar | 2024 | IBE and IIPA student conference travel awards |
Sai Akshitha Reddy Kota | 2024 | IBE and IIPA student conference travel awards |
Mahtab Saeidifar | 2024 | IAI Research Proposal Award |
Mahtab Saeidifar | 2024 | IAI Research Day Poster Award (First Place) |
Mahtab Saeidifar | 2024 | Iranian American Academics and Professionals Organization Scholarship |
Aravind Mandiga | 2024 | AG2PI Travel Award |
Venkat Umesh Chandra Bodempudi | 2024 | SCAD Travel Award |
Mahtab Saeidifar | 2023 | AG2PI Travel Award |
Oluwadamilola Oso | 2023 | AG2PI Travel Award |