Assistant​/Associate Professor: Applied Artificial Intelligence

Assistant/Associate Professor:
Applied Artificial Intelligence

Job No: 540688

Work Type: Full Time

Location: Hillsborough

Categories: Biology/Life Science, Agricultural Sciences

Department:  - AG-GCREC - BALM

Classification

Title:

Ast/Aso Prof

Classification

Minimum Requirements:

Candidates for this rank shall hold the highest degree appropriate to their field. A candidate shall be expected to demonstrate successful experience pertinent to the position they are being recommended and have demonstrated qualities relevant to the goals of the academic unit in which they will be employed.

Job Description: The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is creating an environment that affirms community across all dimensions. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call  or the Florida Relay System at  (TDD) or visit Accessibility at UF.

This is a 9-month tenure-accruing position that will be 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 30% extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), based at the Agricultural AI Institute within the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Florida. This assignment may change in accordance with the needs of the unit. Tenure will accrue in the Department of Horticultural Sciences.

The faculty member is expected to develop an externally funded research and Extension program in their area of expertise.

The position is part of a cohort of new hires for the GCREC Agricultural AI Institute that will focus on the development, advancement, and deployment of applied artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture with an emphasis on automation and efficiency in specialty crop production.

The successful candidate will advance the Institute's research mission by developing, validating, and deploying artificial intelligence (AI) innovations into field-ready agricultural technologies that address crop production challenges including, but not limited to, weed, disease, and insect detection, nutrient deficiency identification, crop characterization, and yield estimation. The successful candidate will develop, adapt, and integrate AI models into production systems for targeted spraying, precision mapping, spatial analysis, sensor-based automation, and other advanced agricultural uses.

The faculty member will play a key role in technology transfer by collaborating with multidisciplinary faculty, growers, equipment manufacturers, and agricultural technology companies to deploy and evaluate AI-enabled systems. Responsibilities include coordinating field demonstrations, providing technical expertise during implementation, collecting engineering and performance feedback, and supporting the refinement of technologies as they progress toward commercial readiness.

The extension component will include the development of a successful educational program to accelerate commercial adoption and evaluation of AI-based agricultural technologies with the goal of improving the profitability and environmental sustainability of Florida's fruit and vegetable industry. Examples of extension include workshops with growers, field days, online resources, county extension partnerships, extension publications, and decision-support systems.

Candidates with strong academic backgrounds that also demonstrate the ability to work with applied systems will be preferred. The candidate will have the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary environment consisting of industry partners and faculty in agricultural and biological engineering, economics, entomology, horticulture, microbiology, plant pathology, soil science, and weed science. A successful candidate is expected to embrace all three missions the Land-grant university system:
Research, Extension, and Teaching.

The candidate is required to establish a strong, externally funded, research program, and promote their research activity and leadership in professional societies as well as sustained publication activity in top scientific journals. The candidate is encouraged to collaborate with other faculty and research…