Big-data is advancing and data streams are diversifying at a rate that is beyond our capacity to manage. It is necessary to examine ways to analyze and interpret the information being collected and consider how big-data will advance science and affect decision-making in the future.  In the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we believe that big-data is not a passing fad and that, if harnessed, it will benefit agriculture and support healthier ecosystems. If we develop this area of research in the college, we will not only be able to train graduate students and professionals, but we will also have the opportunity to become a leader in this rapidly growing field.

In support of these ideas, we are helping to lead a new initiative on Big data and ecoinformatics in the UW-Madison CALS (with Prof. Claudio Gratton).  We are organizing a symposium on April 27, 2017, and are offering a graduate level 1-credit seminar in spring 2017.

Lead scientists:  Tracy Campbell, Claudio Gratton, Chris Kucharik