Assistant/Associate Professor - Decision Intelligence Specialist

This is a 9-month tenure-accruing position that will be 70% research (Florida Agricultural Experiment Station) and 30% extension (Florida Cooperative Extension Service), available at 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 Agriculture and Biological Engineering.

About the role

This position is part of a cohort of new hires for the GCREC Agricultural AI Institute that will focus on the advancement of applied artificial intelligence (AI) in agriculture with an emphasis on automation and efficiency within specialty crop production. The position advances the Institute's research mission by developing and applying next-generation decision intelligence methodologies that transform agricultural data into actionable management recommendations.

The successful candidate will establish an internationally recognized research program focused on prescriptive AI for agriculture, integrating reinforcement learning, causal inference, optimization, and agentic AI systems to enable autonomous and human-centered decision making.

Responsibilities

• Conduct innovative research in decision-focused AI for agriculture.
• Develop reinforcement learning frameworks for adaptive farm management.
• Advance causal inference methods to improve decision making from observational and experimental data.
• Design agentic AI systems capable of planning, reasoning, and coordinating agricultural operations.
• Create prescriptive decision support systems for farm resource allocation, including labor, equipment, water, fertilizer, and crop protection inputs.
• Play a key role in technology transfer, translating advances in decision intelligence into practical tools and workflows with potential for adoption by producers, industry, and other stakeholders.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to develop user-centered decision support systems.
• Contribute to extension activities by training extension specialists and industry representatives on the use of decision support technologies and their integration into current production systems.
• Actively seek contract and grant funding to support their program.
• Engage in Extension activities in their program area.
• Establish a strong, externally funded, research program.
• Promote research activity and leadership in professional societies as well as sustained publication activity in top scientific journals.
• Collaborate with other faculty and research partners, creating synergy both inside and outside of the University of Florida.
• Participate actively in undergraduate and graduate education by chairing and serving on graduate committees, supervising thesis, dissertation, and undergraduate research, and publishing research results with students.
• Participate in professional development activities related to teaching and advising and may teach courses and seminars.

Requirements

• A doctorate (foreign equivalent acceptable) in Engineering, Computer Science, Horticultural Sciences, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proven ability to participate in collaborative efforts and procurement of external funding.
• Experience with artificial intelligence, agentic AI, and/or experience with AI deployment in agricultural systems.
• Supportive of the mission of the University Land-Grant system.
• Commitment to UF core values.

Preferred Qualifications

• Applied, interdisciplinary scientist with computer science experience.
• Experience with horticultural crops, design and deployment of software solutions, and mobile applications for agriculture.
• Familiarity with Python, C++, PyTorch/TensorFlow, agent-based modeling and simulation tools, edge AI platforms, and other relevant software.

Skills

Candidates with strong academic backgrounds that also demonstrate the ability to work with applied systems will be preferred. The candidate should possess the interest, skills, and temperament to interact and collaborate effectively with other researchers. The GCREC Agricultural AI Institute emphasizes team approaches to problem solving.

Background Information

The University of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) is a nationally recognized hub for interdisciplinary research, Extension, and graduate education supporting Florida's specialty crop industries. The Center is in Wimauma, approximately 35 minutes from downtown Tampa. GCREC is home to more than 20 faculty whose expertise spans artificial intelligence, automation, engineering, geomatics, horticulture, plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, horticulture, national resource management, and precision agriculture. The center offers exceptional research infrastructure, including modern laboratories and offices, greenhouses, approximately 500 acres of research farm, and housing for up to 34 graduate students.

This position will be housed in the new Agricultural AI Institute, a state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and precision agriculture for specialty crop production. The Institute is designed to foster innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, featuring newly constructed offices, collaborative research space, advanced engineering and computer science laboratories, fabrication and prototyping shops, and dedicated training facilities.

The Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department is a unit in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida and has a variety of teaching, research, and extension education programs. The Department consistently ranks in the top 5 Agricultural and Biological Engineering programs nationwide. At ABE, the candidate will join a dynamic, cross-disciplinary group of researchers and will enjoy broad opportunities for collaborations with existing teams.

The University of Florida is a Land-Grant, Sea-Grant, and Space-Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 56,000 students. UF is a member of The Association of American Universities.