By Rose Krebs
Professor Ross Sozzani is the Plant Improvement Platform director for the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and co-deputy director of the STEPS Center (Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability). Sozzani’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that regulate plant growth and development. By leveraging biological data, Sozzani develops computational and systems biology approaches to model gene regulatory networks that control plant development. Her work helps reveal how genes coordinate growth processes, providing insights that can inform strategies to improve crop performance and resilience.
Sozzani is also the director and principal investigator of the NSF AccelNet AI2EAR, the International Collaboration to Accelerate Integration of Engineering, Plant Sciences and Agricultural Research using Artificial Intelligence. The mission of AI2EAR is to ensure long-term global food security and safety by providing a framework for researchers to share critical resources and expertise across borders.
This initiative has created a network of networks, connecting researchers, businesses and academic institutions to share critical resources and information needed to drive innovation. In early January, Sozzani co-organized a workshop sponsored by AI2EAR with long-term collaborators that brought together faculty from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,including Terri Long, Steve Lommel, Debjani Sihi (Crop and Soil Science and Plant and Microbial Biology) and Danielai Jones (Biological and Agricultural Engineering) and the STEPS Center with Maude Cuchiara, spanning research from basic science to applied and engineering approaches. The workshop also included researchers from the Center for Low-temperature Plasma Sciences (cLPS) at Nagoya University to explore new opportunities for collaboration.
The synergy between these groups is rooted in essential plant nutrition. Most gardeners recognize NPK (elemental nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) as the three pillars of plant survival. Without these resources at the correct levels, plants will not thrive and are more susceptible to disease. This conference brought together experts on two of these elements, nitrogen and phosphorus.
Source : ncsu.edu