Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems

The College of Agricultural Sciences envisions a future where emerging and advanced technologies are integral to establishing sustainable and resilient agricultural systems that are interconnected with the broader living systems that support them. These systems range from forests, wetlands, and waterways to the ecological biodiversity of plants, insects, and animals and the resiliency of rural and urban communities.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, precision ag, remote sensing, geospatial intelligence, gene editing, and augmented reality can improve our ability to monitor and manage not only production and access to food but also biodiversity and natural resources and human health and well-being.

The Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems initiative is a unique, holistic approach. It addresses the complex challenges of climate volatility, limited resource availability, biodiversity losses, and social and economic shifts within our communities. With this initiative, we:

• Acknowledge that agricultural and living systems are interconnected and that we must balance production with conservation.
• Recognize that the development and application of technologies cannot be removed from the challenges of adoption, policy, accessibility, affordability, and security.
• Embrace the diversity of our state's agricultural and natural resource sectors. Specifically, reinforce Pennsylvania as the nation's laboratory for living systems and our role as a preferred partner for testing and formalizing the integration of technologies across agriculture and living systems.
• Share the breadth of our expertise in research, education, and extension to help make our state's industries more competitive and profitable.
• Commit to bridging the gap between discovery and delivery by serving as an effective convener of diverse audiences across industry, stakeholders, academia, and government to address complex issues.

The Technologies for Living Systems Center brings the research and education mission of this initiative into focus by building a community of researchers and students from across multiple Penn State colleges and campuses and connecting with stakeholders across government, industry, and grower groups. In May 2024, the Center hosted a symposium to learn about the diversity of research projects across Penn State and beyond and to design strategies around entrepreneurship and innovation, workforce development, and adoption and implementation.

The College of Agricultural Sciences is committed to our role as Pennsylvania's land-grant institution by organizing and leading this statewide initiative in the development and application of emerging and advanced technologies to support healthy farms, cities, forests, and waters in Pennsylvania and across the world. This initiative builds on 150 years of bringing diverse stakeholders into conversation to balance the advancement of our state's industries with a dedicated effort to also protect our precious natural resources and ensure the endurance of our living systems for future generations.

As we build this initiative, we invite partners from within and beyond the University to join us in realizing this vision for twenty-first century agroecosystems.