I wanted to reach out to you regarding an exciting opportunity in the hopes that you can assist me. I am leading in conjunction with Mark Becker from the state 4-H Office, UIUC's Center for Digital Agriculture, the Department of Animal Sciences, and the Department of Crop Sciences to conduct a monthly Digital Agriculture Workshop Series. This series is geared towards high school youth (both within and not within the 4-H program), hopefully at a national level, who want to develop and strengthen their skillset in the areas of Digital Agriculture and Computer Science. More details can be found below as well as in the flyer attached.

As we all know, due to a growing global population, the world has been experiencing a serious issue with food security. In fact, according to a report by the United Nations, the world needs to produce 60% more food by 2050. Despite the mountainous climb that we need to make, the emerging field of digital agriculture, an integration of digital technologies in the fields, is helping transforming life of farmers around the globe. By creating technologies to help agricultural industries, digital agriculture is helping the world to take a step towards feeding and supporting a growing global population. That's how powerful digital agriculture can be, hence the U of I Digital Agriculture Workshop Series.

If you know of any high schooler with experience, kindly please encourage them to apply. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity that they wouldn't want to miss!

Details: 

In collaboration with the University of Illinois Center for Digital Agriculture, the Department of Animal Sciences, and the Department of Crop Sciences, Illinois 4-H will be hosting virtual learning sessions focused on Digital Ag for High School students. 

Applications are due Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Registration link: https://go.illinois.edu/4HDigAgWorkshops

Topics & Activities Include: 

• Introduction to Digital Agriculture Concepts
• Fundamentals of Programming I & II
• Introduction to Machine Learning
• Fundamentals of App Development
• Introduction to Design Thinking
• Guest Lectures from Crop Science, Animal Science, and Engineering Faculty

Details: 

• Sessions will take place via Zoom after school from January - July 2023. See the exact dates below. 
• Sessions will be led and facilitated by students and faculty from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. 
• High School participants will be eligible to attend the 2023 Digital Agriculture Summer Training Course at the UIUC campus in late July - early August 2023. 
• There is no cost for this series, but we ask that students commit to making 6 of the 8 sessions at minimum. 

Sessions will meet Mondays on Zoom from 7-8:30 pm CST. 

Dates: 

• January 30
• February 27
• March 27
• April 24
• June 5, 26
• July 3, 10  

Kindly,

ANDREA E. FARRIER
4-H Program Coordinator
Pronouns: she, her, hers

University of Illinois Extension
Serving DuPage, Kane and Kendall Counties
535 S Randall Rd
St. Charles, IL 60174
630.584.6166 or  217.300.1369 | farrier2@illinois.edu
go.illinois.edu/ExtensionDKK