Water Institute Team Awarded $1.79M NSF Grant for AI-Powered Environmental Forecasting
An interdisciplinary team convened by the University of Florida Water Institute has secured a $1.79 million National Science Foundation award to develop AI tools that improve environmental forecasting and decision-making. Led by Dr. Jiangxiao Qiu, a 2026 Water Institute Distinguished Fellow, the project will leverage the University of Florida’s HiPerGator supercomputer to improve predictions of coupled water and carbon dynamics and support better environmental decision-making, which will help communities and resource managers better prepare for environmental change.
The project brings together Water Institute Director Dr. Matt Cohen and Water Institute affiliates Dr. Joel B. Harley (Electrical & Computer Engineering), Dr. Emmanuel J. Dorley (Computer & Information Science & Engineering), and Dr. Chang Zhao (Agronomy) who serve as co-principal investigators on the project. The award exemplifies the Water Institute’s mission to catalyze interdisciplinary research by bringing together expertise from across disciplines to address complex water and natural resource challenges. Water Institute Research Coordinator Darlene Vélez will support project management and coordination across the multidisciplinary team.