UC Irvine’s Ankita Raturi, right, and UCLA’s Ian Davies chat at Masumoto Family Farm.
Credit: Roger J. Wyan
Ankita Raturi is a model student for the UC Global Food Initiative.
Credit: Roger J. Wyan
The UC Irvine graduate student in informatics has a different take on applying technology to agriculture: Her Global Food Initiative fellowship project is to model the environmental impacts of agricultural systems.
Raturi is working to develop an open source environmental assessment tool that can capture the complexity of agricultural systems and help farmers increase their sustainability.
“I’m a software engineer who plays in farms,” Raturi said.
Farmers are intrigued by the possibilities.
“This is fascinating work that you’re doing and cutting edge,” organic farmer Mas Masumoto told Raturi while hosting global food fellows in April at his family farm near Fresno. “Most people look at agricultural technology through the lens of efficiency.”