Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry

Cluster Goals

Climate change, population growth, and economic forces are among the most urgent threats to the world’s agriculture and forestry systems. Scaling up strategic adoption of climate-smart practices will lead to resilient systems that are sustainable in every sense—environmentally, socially, and economically.   

The complexity of competing and intersecting pressures on agriculture and forestry systems demands bold transdisciplinary solutions. The Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry cluster employs data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to harness massive amounts of experimental data generated by our experts in agriculture, forestry, engineering, and economics. 

Together we will develop next-generation concepts, models, and tools to predict trade-offs of specific technologies and identify best practices at the landowner and landscape scales. Our work will ultimately inform climate-smart decisions and strategic policies to make life and lives better—on farms, in communities, and globally.

Smart Synergies

We’re connecting researchers with diverse areas of expertise, including:

• Computer science
• Soil science
• Forest management
• Biosystems engineering
• Industrial and systems engineering
• Circular bioeconomy systems
• Agricultural and resource economics
• Agricultural supply chains 
• Decision sciences

Why UT?

Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, UT has a strong foundation in developing climate-smart solutions based on field and lab experimental research. The Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry cluster is strategically expanding capabilities to gather data from many disciplines, integrate it at the systems level, and use it to reshape the future of food, fuel, and fiber production. Emerging federal innovation programs are focusing on high-tech agricultural solutions, so as the cluster grows it will be well positioned to pursue highly competitive research proposals.

UT’s computer science and mathematics faculty are addressing a broad spectrum of related AI and machine learning technologies. Their algorithms, computing platforms, and models underpin our vision to transform agriculture and forestry into resilient high-tech enterprises. We will also collaborate with the UT-led AI Tennessee Initiative.

Cluster faculty will partner with multiple research centers, including the Center for Agricultural Synthetic Biology, the Center for Profitable Agriculture, the Center for Renewable Carbon, and the Data Science Institute for Machine Learning and AI. We’ll work with UT AgResearch to develop solutions and leverage statewide AgResearch and Education Centers to provide experiential learning for students. We’ll also work with UT Extension to disseminate knowledge and tools based on our work to farmers, forest owners, and policymakers.

UT’s Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs will play a key role as the cluster addresses questions that can help landowners and policymakers implement best practices and design regulatory and economic infrastructure that advances climate-resilient solutions.