NASA Acres Science Meeting Agenda

  • Home base: Room 1224 in ESJ is our main meeting room.

  • Food and drink: Please don't eat in the classrooms…the carpets thank you! Plenty of seating is available throughout the floor for meals and snacks.

  • Need extra space? Rooms 1202, 1215, and 1309 are available for our group. (Note: the smaller "huddle rooms" that seat about six are reservable by the public, so please stick to the rooms listed.)

  • Water: Refill stations are located near the restrooms.

Last updated 7/15/2026

Meeting Location

University of Maryland at Edward St. John Learning & Teaching Center (ESJ)
4131 Campus Dr, College Park, MD 20742

Wednesday, July 15
8:00 am – 7:00 pm · UMD, College Park · Breakfast & Lunch Served
Joint Farmer-Researcher Plenary Session
8:00–8:30 am
Arrival, Registration & Breakfast
8:30–9:05 am
Meeting Opening Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft, NASA Acres Executive Director Dr. Karen St. Germain, NASA Earth Science Division Director ESJ Room 1224
9:15–9:30 am
NASA Acres & FIAT Seeding Satellite Solutions Partnership Program Announcement Founding Partners ESJ Room 1224
Innovation: Where Priorities and Science Intersect Facilitated by Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti (NASA Acres Chief Agronomist) & Dr. Allison Bredder
9:30–10:20 am
Decision Needs & Capabilities: Within-Season Crop Management Nutrient Management Producer: Dr. Kent Martin (Oklahoma) Researcher: Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti Disease Detection & Management Producer: Donnell Brown (NGRA) Researcher: Dr. Katie Gold ESJ Room 1224
10:20–11:00 am
Coffee Break & Flyer SessionESJ Hallway
11:00 am–12:00 pm
Decision Support Needs & Capabilities: Economics & Marketing Planted Acres Producer: Brad Doyle (Arkansas) Researcher: Dr. Xiaopeng Song & Dr. Sergii Skakun Yield Forecast Producer: John Reifsteck (Illinois) Researcher: Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft & Dr. Yuchi Ma ESJ Room 1224
12:00–12:50 pm
Decision Needs & Capabilities: Accessing Additional Revenue Streams Pay-for-Practice (Cover Crop, No-Till) Producer: Ray Flickner (Kansas) Researcher: Dr. Dean Hively Pay-for-Outcome (Carbon) Producer: Jocelyn Anderson (California) Researcher: Dr. Kaiyu Guan ESJ Room 1224
12:50–1:00 pm
Wrap UpESJ Room 1224
1:00–2:00 pm
Lunch (Provided)
NASA Acres Science Meeting
2:00–2:05 pm
NASA Agriculture Program Perspective NASA Agriculture Program Area Manager, Dr. Ashutosh Limaye ESJ Room 1224
2:05–2:35 pm
NASA Acres Scientific Vision & Science Meeting Objectives NASA Acres Chief Scientist Dr. Kaiyu Guan — Purpose & Objectives; Translating Stakeholder Needs into Next-Gen Research ESJ Room 1224
2:35–3:40 pm
Research Updates Session 1: Agricultural Monitoring & Forecasting Field Boundaries: Dr. Lin Yan Crop Type Area: Dr. Sergii Skakun Crop Yield Forecast: Dr. Guanyuan Shuai Crop Quality: Dr. Ignacio Ciampitti Agrometeorology: Dr. Chris Hain ESJ Room 1224
3:40–4:00 pm
Coffee Break
4:00–4:45 pm
Research Updates Session 2: Agricultural Management & Responses Nitrogen Management: Dr. Kaiyu Guan Ag Modeling & Scenarioing: Dr. Alex Ruane Rapid Response: Dr. Hannah Kerner Crop Disease: Dr. Katie Gold ESJ Room 1224
4:45–5:00 pm
Day 1 Wrap-Up + Day 2 Prep Dr. Kaiyu Guan & Dr. Mike Humber ESJ Room 1224
5:00–7:00 pm
Flyer / Mingling Session Hors d'oeuvres & soft beverages provided Optional but Recommended ESJ Hallway
Thursday, July 16
8:30 am – 5:00 pm · UMD, College Park · Breakfast & Lunch Served
NASA Acres Science Meeting (Continued)
8:30–9:00 am
Arrival & Breakfast
9:00–9:15 am
Day 1 Recap & Day 2 Introduction Dr. Kaiyu Guan & Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft ESJ Room 1224
Building Foundations for Strong Applications Facilitated by Dr. Kaiyu Guan
9:15–10:15 am
AI & Earth Observation for Agriculture — Keynote Session Keynote 1: Geospatial Foundation Models — Dr. Hannah Kerner Keynote 2: Knowledge-Guided AI — Dr. Licheng Liu Keynote 3: Agentic AI — Dr. Yu Jiang ESJ Room 1224
10:15–11:00 am
Research Updates Session 3: Regenerative Agriculture & Environmental Outcomes Cover Crop Performance: Dr. Dean Hively & Dr. Alison Thieme Tillage & Impact: Dr. Yuchi Ma Soil Carbon & GHG Modeling: Dr. Stephen Ogle Regenerative Ranching: Dr. Tony Vorster/Daniel Cleveland ESJ Room 1224
11:00–11:20 am
Coffee Break
11:20 am–12:20 pm
New & Emerging Science & Missions Hyperspectral Sensing for Ag: Dr. Dana Chadwick NISAR & Soil Moisture: Dr. Mike Cosh Thermal for Ag: Dr. Christine Lee Satellite Data Fusion: Dr. Hankui Zhang ESJ Room 1224
12:20–1:00 pm
Research Updates Session 4: Cross-Industry & Interdisciplinary Crop Resilience: Dr. Rod Rejesus Supply Chain Dashboard & Economic Scenarios: Dr. Mike Humber Water Demands/Irrigation/OpenET: Dr. Forrest Melton Confidential Compute Framework: Dr. Guanyuan Shuai ESJ Room 1224
1:00–2:00 pm
Lunch (Provided)
Envisioning & Planning for the Future
2:00–3:15 pm
Breakout Groups: Opportunities for NASA Acres Breakout rooms assigned in ESJ Room 1224
3:15–3:30 pm
Coffee Break
3:30–4:00 pm
Breakout Report Back Rapporteurs ESJ Room 1224
4:00–4:45 pm
Group Discussion, Synthesis & Action Planning Facilitators: Dr. Kaiyu Guan & Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft ESJ Room 1224
4:45–5:00 pm
Meeting Closure Dr. Alyssa Whitcraft ESJ Room 1224

Please reach out to Allison Bredder (allison@nasaacres.org) with any questions or concerns.


Check out the Attendee Resource Guide for answers to FAQs.