Kaiyu Guan, the founding director of the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center and Chief Scientist at NASA Acres, has been named one of 18 finalists for the 2024 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists. Established in 2007, the award, jointly presented by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences, honors exceptional young scientists (age 42 or younger) across the life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and chemistry, providing critical support to innovative research that addresses global challenges.
Guan was one of 331 nominations from 172 institutions in 43 states. He represents the Agriculture and Animal Science category and is being recognized for “developing revolutionary technology to enhance our understanding of agricultural production systems and innovating transformative solutions to achieve co-sustainability of agricultural productivity.” He will be formally honored at a gala ceremony on October 1 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
“Thanks to the Blavatnik Family Foundation for this honor for the second time. The award goes to our whole team for the journey of innovating solutions to ensure agricultural sustainability in the US Midwest and beyond,” said Guan.
Guan, a Blue Waters Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, founded and directs ASC, which has a mission to revolutionize agricultural systems through research, collaboration, and engagement, bridging science and practice for agricultural productivity and ecosystem sustainability. He uses computational models, satellite data, fieldwork, artificial intelligence, and supercomputers to enable agriculture to adapt to and mitigate climate change. The approaches spearheaded by Guan enable real-time monitoring of crop growth, water demands, nutrient needs, crop yield forecasts, and environmental impacts of every crop field in the US Midwest and beyond. His agricultural prediction platform is used by the government and farming communities to advance climate-smart agriculture policies and has enabled farmers to shift towards sustainable practices.
The Blavatnik Award is the latest in a series of honors bestowed upon Guan, which include the 2023 Macelwane Medal from American Geophysical Union and the 2022 FoodShot Global Groundbreaker Prize and being named a 2023 University Scholar by the University of Illinois System.