Greenhouse, Agtech Trailers will Bring UC Merced Research to the Community

Two new trailers will help bring hands-on experiences with UC Merced's cutting-edge agricultural technology research to students and community members anywhere.

In one, participants will be able to get their hands dirty and work through the planting process. And in the other, they will see drones, robots and other agtech in action.

The trailers are intended for UC Merced outreach activities that showcase the Experimental Smart Farm, greenhouse and Agricultural Experiment Station, said Joshua Viers, associate vice chancellor of interdisciplinary research and strategic initiatives.

"The mobile greenhouse and mobile agtech hub are designed to bring hands-on experiences with plant production, environmental sensing, automation, robotics and agricultural data directly to schools, community locations and agricultural workplaces," Viers said.

They were designed, assembled and outfitted as part of the California's Jobs First Initiative and North Valley THRIVE, a coalition of community organizations, government agencies, educational institutions and economic development partners across Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties, and will operate through the Valley Institute for Sustainability, Technology & Agriculture, or VISTA. That includes Merced College, which has been working with UC Merced on agtech advances and workforce training.

"With this greenhouse trailer, we hope to provide a hands-on learning experience to Central Valley children to inspire and excite them about the future of agtech and farming," said Isaac Leyva, a computer science and engineering graduate of UC Merced now employed as a junior specialist at the university's greenhouse.

He and fellow specialist Ethan Vu recently showed off the trailers and explained the possibilities they offer.

The mobile greenhouse has two vertical growing systems inside, one using soil with a compost tube down the middle and the other aimed at hydroponic growing.

"Kids can come in and learn how to identify seeds and how to grow them," Vu said. "We will showcase that modern agriculture isn't just putting it in the dirt and waiting for it to grow."

The greenhouse is being built with modular components so projects can be switched out depending on audience and need.

In the agtech trailer, people will be able to see projects including drone mapping and artificial intelligence-powered practices, said Emery Silberman, a research software engineer.

"We'll bring out a drone and fly it, then show stitching a map together real-ish time," he said. "And we have an AI computer that we'll be showing off running the latest offline AI models to show how the LLM (large language model) can help answer questions about agricultural practices while having no internet access as well as being able to scan through a library of agricultural research and best practices to provide grounded reasoning."

Also highlighted will be the university's Experimental Smart Farm site.

"We will show how we manage our data at the farm and how we're using AI to help collect, organize and analyze our data as well as sharing it with the public," Silberman said.

While some initial outreach efforts will be aimed at K-12 students, the trailers will serve a wide audience.

"Both platforms can also serve adult learners, career changers and people already working in agriculture through short demonstrations, applied workshops and partner-led training," Viers said.

The focus on people reflects recent research the university published that found the future of agriculture technology will require investment in the workforce as well as in the tools to advance it.

And they don't have to be scientists, farmers or academics. Part of what the specialists want to show is the wide variety of careers and skills that have a place in the agriculture industry.

"That's the promise of the two trailers in tandem," Vu said. "People will see the future of agtech, and see that anyone with any background can do something in it.

"It's a great vision."