The annual D.W. Brooks Signature Event is one of the the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) most prestigious gatherings at the University of Georgia, recognizing faculty and staff for their outstanding contributions. It also commemorates David William Brooks (1901-199), founder of Gold Kist, Inc., the first inductee into the UGA Agricultural Hall of Fame, and an advisor to seven U.S. presidents on farm and trade issues.
The Lamm Lab was excited to be a part of the event. Megan Meyer, Funmi Ajiferuke, Michael Batame, Dennis Baffour-Awuah, Dr. Alexa Lamm, and Gracie Grimes all attended the annual seminar. Gracie also hosted the event as one of the CAES Ag Ambassadors and Dr. Lamm received several research awards during the awards ceremony later in the evening.
This year’s speaker was Dr. Raj Khosla, Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University. Dr. Khosla, an honorary life fellow of the International Society of Precision Agriculture, co-leads multi-state, multi-year, federally funded projects developing and evaluating next-generation sensors and novel AI algorithms to enhance water and nitrogen use in irrigated systems. His talk was titled “Cultivating Intelligence: AI’s Past, Present, and Future in Precision Agriculture.”
Dr. Khosla’s talk focused on the evolution of technology in agriculture, how it has advanced over time, and how it can shape the future of agricultural production. He commended the pioneering scientists whose efforts laid the foundation for precision agriculture and emphasized the importance of appreciating the progress made so far. He noted that much of the data being collected today will become even more valuable as technology continues to evolve, enhancing how agricultural systems operate.
“In the future, we are not only going to show that agriculture is about farming the land,” he remarked, “but also about how to farm data.”
The event continued with the presentation of the D.W. Brooks Faculty Awards for Excellence, recognizing distinguished faculty for their outstanding achievements in areas including extension, research, teaching, public service and outreach, student success, and international agricultural and environmental sciences. Dr. Lamm was recognized for several accomplishments including 4 Large Grant Leadership Awards in the $500,000 to $1M, $1M to $3M, and $3M to $5M categories.
