Chris Earls, Professor of Engineering at Cornell University

Pioneering AI-Human Partnerships to Advance Science and Technology

Date: November 21, 2024
Time: 10:30am
Place: Kendal at Ithaca and via Zoom

Description: Science has always been a uniquely human enterprise: its theories are essentially stories that appeal to human intelligence and tell about mechanisms and principles that govern the universe; ultimately allowing for the predictions that enable our technology. In so far as these scientific theories are precise, they are mathematical in nature. It is a great mystery why human brains, armed with mathematical formalism, can uncover deep scientific insights about the universe that far exceed our daily experiences. In this talk we will explore how machine intelligence (AI) can be employed in meaningful way; to add richness to our scientific theories and to advance the frontiers of discovery. How can we align human and machine intelligences within the context of science? How might lessons learned help in aligning human and machine intelligences as the prospect of an artificial general intelligence fast approaches.

Bio: Earls is the J. Preston Levis Professor of Engineering at Cornell University and the Director of the ONR-funded SciAI Center. He is a faculty member in the graduate fields of Mathematics, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and several others. Earls received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and his M.S. and B.S. degrees from Virginia Tech.

Bruce Reisch and Tim Martinson
Professor emeritus and Senior Extension Associate emeritus, respectively
Section of Horticulture, School of Integrative Plant Science
Cornell AgriTech, Geneva New York

It’s Time to Embrace Hybrids: How new winegrape varieties will lead to a more sustainable wine industry

Date: December 12, 2024
Time: 2pm
Place: Kendal at Ithaca and via Zoom

Description: Over the past 10 years, whole genome DNA sequencing has revolutionized grape breeding – with Cornell and USDA scientists based at Cornell AgriTech playing a major role in developing this technology.  In the not-too-distant past, breeders relied solely on field observations and past experience to select parents for crosses and to evaluate their progeny.  Now they are able to test each seedling grapevine with DNA markers to verify which genes are present, and make informed selections.  In this talk, we’ll describe why European varieties such as Riesling, Chardonnay, and Cabernet franc have little disease resistance, how traits from wild North American and Asian grape species can lessen the need for inputs, and how new varieties will make New York’s wine industry more sustainable. We’ll also discuss cultural and historical barriers to the acceptance and marketing of so-called ‘Hybrid wines’.

Bio: Bruce Reisch was professor in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science from 1980 to 2023, focused on grape genetics and breeding. As a breeder, he released 11 named winegrape varieties to the industry. He also was the first to apply ‘marker-assisted selection’ to grapevines. Tim Martinson was Area Extension Educator with the Finger Lakes Grape program from 1997 to 2006, and Senior Extension Associate with the Statewide Viticulture Extension program from 2007 to 2022.