Month: April 2024

I’m excited to announce that Dr. Tanya Berger-Wolf will be joining our special Women Rock-IT broadcast to support International Girls in ICT Day, featuring women who have turned their passion for technology into rewarding and successful careers.

Dr. Tanya Berger-Wolf is the Director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute  and a Professor of Computer Science Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, as well as Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State University (OSU).

As a computational ecologist, Tanya’s research is at the unique intersection of computer science, wildlife biology, and social sciences. She will speak on International Girls in ICT Day, hosted by Cisco Networking Academy’s Women Rock-IT Program. The theme for this year’s event is Are You AI Ready? And for those who may not be aware, AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, which is what Tanya is going to be sharing more about.

Q: What was your motivation to get into computer science, and what was your path to get there?

A: I always wanted to do math. I even declared that when I was five in front of my whole family. So I went straight for math, eventually realizing that the type of math I like is the math that’s the foundation of computer science. I went on to do a theoretical computer science PhD, designing algorithms and doing proofs.

Along the way I met an ecologist who is now my husband and partner. He really charmed me with stories of industrious spiders and shy flowers and took me on nature walks to try to get me over my fear of bugs.

I intentionally switched from a very theoretical computer science PhD to designing computational methods for answering ecological questions.

A zebra’s friend

Q: What inspired you to focus on using AI in conservation and what keeps you motivated in the face of the ongoing extinction crisis?

A: There is both the challenge and the inspiration that keeps me going.

The way I got started in conservation was really on a bet. I was working with biologists who study social behavior of animals such as zebras. I got really curious about how they know who a zebra’s friend is.

After watching them take 20 minutes just to identify one individual zebra using the available technology at the time, the impatient engineer in me said that there had to be a better way of doing it.

They said, “you think you can do better?” And I said, “yeah, you want to bet?”

I literally bet my reputation on being able to identify an individual zebra from a photograph easily.

AI for conservation

The first algorithm we created was developed into an even better algorithm, which we are still curious about. But it turned out it could be very useful in conservation for things like tracking animals, counting them, and even figuring out who’s a zebra or a sperm whale’s friend without putting collars or satellite tags on them.

We realized that we needed to build that technology in a way that non-technical people could use, without becoming AI experts in the process.

And that’s how Wildbook was born. Having started creating AI technology for conservation, we realized three things:

just how big the challenges werehow huge the space was to do something to make a differencehow urgent all of this is.

The challenge and urgency keep me going. And most importantly, there’s something meaningful that we can do with AI.

How important are digital and AI skills?

Q: How important is it for people to include digital skills in their future education and professional development plans? And why is it so important?

A: I think AI is becoming very quickly a part of pretty much everything that we use and touch. So AI literacy is becoming the basic skill that should be taught in school and everybody should have.

It is particularly important in being able to solve complex problems like biodiversity conservation. Because it is not a problem that’s going to be solved by AI alone or by humans alone. The answer truly is in partnership: the human-machine partnership.

And to be able to partner well with AI, we need to know what that partner is capable of and what’s the best way to have that partnership. And that means having skills that allow us to use AI, to understand AI, and even more importantly, to understand the potential of AI.

Q: What is your advice for any young women starting out in computer science?

A: Not everybody has to do computer science, but anybody who wants to, should have an opportunity to do so. And even more, everybody should have an opportunity to explore it.

Computer science is about getting machines to affect the world. For example, with a few lines of text, we can create a 3D view of the brain with an MRI machine, or understand the past through an ancient genome, or predict the path of a hurricane. This creative process of coding is exciting to me.

Accessible AI and ML learning

Q: AI/Machine learning (ML) has been a subject of academic study for more than half a century. Why was last year such a milestone for this type of technology?

A: Last year it exploded, not because of the algorithm or the math, but it’s about how you make that accessible.

Two things happened simultaneously. Firstly, there was a buildup of data available—with many caveats and asterisks that we’re now revisiting. And secondly, modern machine learning is data hungry.

When you have the hardware to run these complex models and the data to feed it, you can start capturing the complexity of the world. But it would have been esoteric if not for this brilliant interface that allows everybody to interact with it.

And that’s a huge lesson if you want to make any piece of technology useful. It’s not about the technology itself, per se, it’s about how you make it a partner, how you really make it accessible.

Observe. Experiment.

Q: Conservation of nature often faces complex questions about the natural world. Can AI help?

A: In Henri Poincaré’s book Science and Method, he says what we now call the scientific method consists of observation and experiment. And all that a scientist needs to do is look carefully at everything.

AI doesn’t fundamentally change the scientific method. It is still observation and experiment. But just like the microscope, the telescope, or genome sequencing, it expands the types of things that scientists can look at.

The fundamental thing that ML and more broadly AI approaches do is extract complex patterns and complex relationships. So, we can not only look at more things, but we can also look carefully at the complexity of the world.

The role of public data

Q: Does publicly available data help in this quest?

A: There is a lot of publicly available data from digitized biological collections, field studies, and citizen scientists. But the most untapped data by far is from social media posts. People love taking pictures of nature, sometimes unintentionally capturing trees and grass, bugs and spiders.

There’s a lot of information already there but it is disconnected and disorganized, so we’re not taking advantage of it. And we need AI’s help to get useful insights from all of it.

Q: Can AI help discover the undiscovered?

A: If we want to discover new things about the world, we need to take a completely different computational philosophical approach and a new design framework of algorithms.

How do we design interpretable, novelty-discovering, computational approaches that produce a testable hypothesis as an outcome?

Maybe you already have your massive species classification from an images model? Well, good for you! But we’re interested in using these news tools and frameworks to discover something new. A new species? A new trait? A new relationship?

This is one of my favorite quotes from Ada Lovelace, who invented the notion of programming in the 1830s:

“We talk much of imagination. We talk of the imagination of poets, the imagination of artists etcetera. I am inclined to think that in general we don’t know very exactly what we are talking about. It is that which penetrates into the unseen world around us, the world of science. It is that which feels and discovers what is, the real which we see not, which exists not for our senses. Those who have learned to walk on the threshold of the unknown worlds may then with the fair white wings of imagination hope to soar further into the unexplored amidst which we live.”

Register now for the Women Rock-IT virtual event on April 25!

Are You AI-Ready? Unlocking nature’s secrets: How AI & Data save wildlife and benefit humanity

Check registration page for your local broadcast time.

View original content here.

CNH brands New Holland, Case IH, New Holland Construction, CASE Construction Equipment, CNH Capital, and Raven showcased products that shined in sustainable innovation at the 11th edition of the Safra Show in Brazil.

Held from March 18th to 22nd, among the main attractions of the New Holland booth was the largest harvester manufactured in Brazil: the CR 10.90 Intellisense™, which has artificial intelligence technology on board. Visitors to the show were able to get a closer look at the most complete line of products and services, such as the T8 and T9 PLM Intelligence tractors, 100% connected, and the PL 7000 planters.

“New Holland showed the most modern solutions aimed at digital agriculture, thinking about all profiles of farmers, from small to large, regardless of the size of the operation. Our expectation is to do great business, presenting the producer with solutions that enable them to reduce operating costs, optimize production and increase productivity,” says Eduardo Kerbauy, New Holland’s vice president for Latin America.

Case IH took the stage as well, with a key focus on the Steiger AFS connect, but also highlighting the Farmall, Puma, the Magnum AFS Connect, the Easy Riser and Fast Riser planters, the Patriot 250 and 350 sprayers, the Axial-Flow Series 150 and Series 250 Automation grain harvesters, the IH Corn platform, and the Draper 4F grain platform.

Raven was also incorporated into New Holland and Case IH’s product range at Safra, with tech advancements such as the DirecSteer™ taking the stage, which are available for T7 range tractors with New Holland and Puma line tractors for Case IH.

New Holland Construction, represented by its dealer Bamaq, was also present at the fair, showcasing the B110B backhoe loader, the E215C EVO hydraulic excavator and the pre-launch W12D wheel loader. CASE Construction Equipment also took the stage with their W20F and 621E wheel loaders. Though these products were developed for the construction market, they are able to perform multiple tasks in farming that complement the efficiency of mechanization in agribusiness.

Celebrating 25 years of history in Brazil, CNH Capital was also present at the Safra Show, and was available during the event to offer expert support in choosing the best financial and insurance solutions for CNH products. Other innovations include credit consultation via QR Code and the +Capital application.

Those who attended Safra also had the opportunity to participate in free courses provided by CNH.

“These courses are a small demonstration of what we offer to train professionals who work or want to work in the field. We have face-to-face and distance courses throughout the year for our clients and we continue with the training project in partnership with Senai and Senar de Mato Grosso”, comments Eduardo Penha, Director of Marketing and Communication at Case IH for Latin America.

CNH’s presence at this year’s Safra Show is a testament to the company’s commitment to sustainable innovation for farming in Brazil, and across the globe.

(Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida issued the following news release.)

Funding expands hunger relief capabilities in central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla., April 18, 2024 /3BL/ – Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida recently received a $27,000 grant from Duke Energy Foundation through the Powerful Communities program.

The funding expanded the cold storage capacity at eight of Second Harvest’s community feeding partners, allowing them to distribute even more perishable foods to neighbors in Brevard, Osceola and Volusia counties.

“Making sure our neighbors have continued access to healthy meals goes well beyond the table,” said Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. “Proper nutrition helps reduce the risk of some diseases while fueling our minds and bodies to manage daily activities, which is especially important for growing children. As summer approaches, this funding from Duke means our partners can better bridge a meal gap many families face when school is out.”

The eight local nonprofit partners that received a new Turbo Air refrigerator through this grant are:

Our Lady of Grace St. Vincent De Paul, Palm Bay 
 Unconditional Love, Melbourne 
 The Altar Community Church, St. Cloud 
 Salvation Army Kissimmee, Kissimmee 
 Impacto 7, St. Cloud 
 Clarita’s House Outreach Ministry, Kissimmee 
 Daytona Deliverance Church of God, Daytona Beach 
 West Volusia Dream Center, Orange City

Second Harvest is one of five Feeding Florida food banks to collectively receive $100,000 in community capacity building grants from the Duke Energy Foundation.

“Many food banks have experienced unprecedented demand in the last few years,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “We are excited to support Second Harvest with funding and a team of dedicated Duke Energy volunteers. Together, we can reach even more Florida families experiencing hunger and continue meeting the increased need in the communities we serve.”

This past weekend, 10 Duke Energy employees participated in a food distribution event in central Florida with West Volusia Dream Center in Orange City.

The Duke Energy Foundation’s Powerful Communities program makes strategic investments to build powerful communities where natural resources thrive, students can excel, and a talented workforce drives economic prosperity for all. The Foundation annually funds more than $30 million to communities throughout Duke Energy’s seven-state service area.

About Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida (SHFBCF)

SHFBCF is a member of Feeding America – the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. SHFBCF secures and distributes food and grocery products to more than 750 local nonprofit feeding partners throughout Central Florida. With the help of food and financial donors, volunteers and a caring, committed community, the food bank distributes 300,000 meals every day to a seven-county service area, which includes Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia. Feeding neighbors facing hunger is only the beginning. By investing in job training programs, advocating for access to nutritious foods, and inspiring our community to get involved, SHFBCF is leaning into the root causes of hunger and helping our neighbors thrive. With support from the Central Florida community, Second Harvest Food Bank is feeding inspiration, change, achievement, health — and families facing hunger. To learn more about SHFBCF, visit www.FeedHopeNow.org.

About Feeding Florida

Feeding Florida is the state’s leading organization in the fight to end hunger. The statewide network unites 9-member food banks, including Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, to provide a healthy, adequate, and consistent food supply to every community every day. Feeding Florida member food banks support the state’s 67 counites with more than 2,400 local charitable agencies, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need to ensure a hunger-free Florida.

Duke Energy Foundation

The Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.

Media contact: Audrey Stasko 
Media line: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_AudreyS

Second Harvest Contact: Kate Quinones
804-714-6500 (cell) 
KateQuinones@costacg.com

View original content here.

AUSTIN, Minn., April 18, 2024 /3BL/ – Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 global branded food company, is now accepting nominations for the 2024 class of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes. The impact-driven program, now in its third year, recognizes the efforts of young trailblazers from across the United States whose philanthropic efforts are driving the world toward a more transparent, secure and sustainable food system.

The company is seeking candidates under 20 years of age who reside in the United States that are driven, passionate and determined to make a lasting impact on the world.

Nominations can be submitted at 10under20foodheroes.com/nominate from now through April 26, 2024.

Each 10 Under 20 Food Hero will receive support and resources from Hormel Foods and its partners, including mentorship, internship opportunities, executive networking sessions and hands-on experiences to foster their growth as future leaders. The program continues to grow into a nationwide network of young changemakers connected through purpose and passion for improving our food system.

“By celebrating and supporting the passion of young minds, we pave the way for a brighter, more sustainable future,” said Katie Clark, senior vice president and chief communications officer at Hormel Foods. “The 10 Under 20 Food Heroes program is a testament to the power of youth-driven innovation in shaping tomorrow’s food landscape.”

To celebrate the achievements of the new cohort of Food Heroes, the 2024 award recipients and their guardians will be invited to the company’s global headquarters in Austin, Minnesota, for a celebration this summer. They will also receive a financial donation to further their impactful efforts.

Explore the inspiring stories of previous Food Heroes and learn more about the program at 10under20foodheroes.com.

AUSTIN, Minn., April 18, 2024 /3BL/ – Hormel Foods, a Fortune 500 global branded food company, is now accepting nominations for the 2024 class of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes. The impact-driven program, now in its third year, recognizes the efforts of young trailblazers from across the United States whose philanthropic efforts are driving the world toward a more transparent, secure and sustainable food system.

The company is seeking candidates under 20 years of age who reside in the United States that are driven, passionate and determined to make a lasting impact on the world.

Nominations can be submitted at 10under20foodheroes.com/nominate from now through April 26, 2024.

Each 10 Under 20 Food Hero will receive support and resources from Hormel Foods and its partners, including mentorship, internship opportunities, executive networking sessions and hands-on experiences to foster their growth as future leaders. The program continues to grow into a nationwide network of young changemakers connected through purpose and passion for improving our food system.

“By celebrating and supporting the passion of young minds, we pave the way for a brighter, more sustainable future,” said Katie Clark, senior vice president and chief communications officer at Hormel Foods. “The 10 Under 20 Food Heroes program is a testament to the power of youth-driven innovation in shaping tomorrow’s food landscape.”

To celebrate the achievements of the new cohort of Food Heroes, the 2024 award recipients and their guardians will be invited to the company’s global headquarters in Austin, Minnesota, for a celebration this summer. They will also receive a financial donation to further their impactful efforts.

Explore the inspiring stories of previous Food Heroes and learn more about the program at 10under20foodheroes.com.