Damon Smith

Damon Smith is a first-generation college graduate who enjoys working outside. He has been interested in science since grade school and is a self-described electronics geek. His work allows him to blend these interests while helping farmers grow field crops more profitably and sustainably.

Roughly six million acres of corn and soybeans cover Wisconsin’s farmlands, and Smith develops models to anticipate when conditions are ripe for the spread of fungal diseases in these crops. Once you see fungus in the field, it’s too late to treat it, so farmers preemptively apply expensive fungicides. Smith’s forecasting models use data describing field conditions and pathogen behavior to inform farmers’ management decisions. This reduces pesticide use while improving ROI.

Smith uses machine learning and AI to create models that capture more extensive data about how crop diseases might spread, such as where fungal spores are released and how they move through the landscape. He works closely with campus and national partners, including the Data Science Institute, the UW-Extension Nutrient and Pest Management Program, and the Crop Protection Network, to build forecasting tools and get them into the hands of farmers and crop consultants who can put them to work.

“When we started developing these models, we didn’t have the computing power we have now. But now we’d really like to capture all aspects of the plant disease triangle, and do it quickly in a simple interface that a farmer or consultant can access. To do that, it’s going to take machine learning and data science.”