RAIISE: Resilient Agricultural Intelligence, Informatics, and Systems Education

Abstract

Natural hazard events cost U.S. farmers more than $20.3 billion in crop and rangeland losses in 2024, with $9.4 billion uninsured. Atmospheric modeling, risk assessment, and AI-driven decision support can reduce these losses, but food and agricultural sciences education has not kept pace. Farm security depends on a trained workforce that can put natural hazard intelligence and decision support to work for American farm families. RAIISE (Resilient Agricultural Intelligence, Informatics, and Systems Education) addresses this gap through a Collaborative Grant Type 1 (CG1) partnership between Louisiana State University (LSU), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the LSU AgCenter. RAIISE will equip the next generation of agricultural professionals with competencies and leadership needed to protect American farm families from natural hazard losses, strengthen rural prosperity, and advance national food security. RAIISE pursues three objectives: 1) developing a curricular pathway of new and enhanced undergraduate and graduate courses using NCAR's atmospheric modeling infrastructure and LSU AgCenter Model Farm data; 2) advancing student career readiness through coursework, Model Farm site visits, and the RAIISE Workshop series; and 3) building lasting faculty capacity through 1-on-1 engagement with NCAR scientists and professional development through the RAIISE Workshop. RAIISE advances HEC program goals by strengthening institutional curriculum and faculty capacity (Goal 1); attracting students to advanced degrees in high-demand fields (Goals 2, 5); operationalizing a three-institution cooperative model (Goal 3); building teaching and Extension capacity (Goal 4); expanding skills-focused, leadership-integrated education (Goals 6, 8); and enhancing graduate instruction quality through partnership with NCAR (Goal 7).