NIAB has appointed Dr Ji Zhou to a newly created role as Head of Data Sciences.
According to NIAB, both science and industry require new methodologies for crop phenotyping and phenotypic analysis, alongside IoT (Internet of Things) smart sensor and AI-based solutions, to address big data challenges within the global food security agenda.
Dr Zhou will collaborate with research groups and companies in the UK, Europe and China to spearhead big data- based solutions in the areas of crop imaging, crop phenomics and AI-based analysis to underpin the digital transition underway in the agricultural sector.
“We’re delighted that Ji is joining us at NIAB,” says Dr Richard Harrison, NIAB’s Director of Cambridge Crop Research. “Increasingly data science is changing the way our industry makes decisions, enhancing plant research, breeding and optimising crop productivity. Data-driven decision tools will also be at the heart of the approaches taken by industry to reach the ambitious 2040 “net-zero” sector target. The growth of the data science team at NIAB, led by Ji, is a significant next step in our future strategy for the organisation, delivering the quality and efficiency that are essential to meet the growing expectations of customers across the public and private sector.”
Photo credit: BBSRC