The University of Iowa has secured a $6 million, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to spearhead a multistate initiative aimed at aiding Midwest agricultural communities facing the increasing challenges of severe weather, including floods, droughts, and heat waves.
The project involves collaboration with universities, local governments, healthcare providers and other experts. Central to the initiative is a network of small, low-cost sensors developed by UI researchers, which will be deployed across Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Arkansas. These sensors will collect a variety of data, including soil temperature and moisture, air temperature, relative humidity, and surface pressure.
According to a release, the gathered data will be utilized to create model forecasts, which will be delivered in real time to agricultural communities via phone apps and interactive on-demand virtual systems. This real-time information aims to provide crucial support to farmers and local residents, helping them better manage and mitigate the impacts of severe weather.
Through local partnerships and data training, the hyper localized forecasts will help individuals and communities in a variety of ways:
- Manage water usage and agricultural field operations.
- Recognize when and where environmental factors such as heat waves or smoke from wildfire are harmful to health.
- Strategically use resources to mitigate heat stress, such as by building greenspaces.
- Grow the local workforce by instilling technical skills and demand for data analytics, operation of unmanned arial vehicles, irrigation systems, and elements of precision agriculture intended to create more economically resilient communities.
“This significant NSF award underscores the University of Iowa’s role in creating engineering solutions to address critical issues facing our rural communities. Through collaborations such as these we can continue to raise the bar in transformative research, benefiting all Iowans,” said Ann McKenna, dean of the UI College of Engineering.
Leading the Charge: Jun Wang and the DARE Initiative
The initiative, known as Data-Advanced Research and Education (DARE), is led by principal investigator Jun Wang. Mr. Wang holds the James E. Ashton Chair of Engineering at the University of Iowa, serves as the departmental executive officer of chemical and biochemical engineering, and is the assistant director for the Iowa Technology Institute.
“Ag-based communities in the central U.S. are disproportionately affected by climate change,” Mr. Wang said. “The DARE project, in partnerships with various state and local stakeholders, will strengthen communities’ resilience and grow the next generation workforce to tackle the impacts of severe weather and climate change.”
Faculty and staff from 10 departments across the University of Iowa’s Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate College are playing a key role in this study, according to the release.
The NSF grant is part of a broader $77.8 million national investment in the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This initiative aims to leverage interdisciplinary research teams across various regions to develop climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, expand STEM opportunities, and stimulate economic growth in communities that are disproportionately affected by climate change.
The project team consists of 29 experts from multiple sectors, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Arkansas, and Kansas State University. Their collective expertise covers a wide range of fields, including engineering, journalism, urban planning, sociology, medicine, sustainability sciences, agronomy, geosciences, and agribusiness.
