b'RISING SEED STARSWeilong HeNorth Carolina State UniversityHe, a Ph.D. student in biological and agricultural engineering, is trans-forming precision agriculture with AI-driven tools for seed science and crop phenotyping. His research includes a smartphone app for detecting mechanical damage in cotton seeds, enabling farmers to assess seed quality and optimize seeding rates with 97% accuracy. Results from this project are under review in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.He also developed innovative phenotyping systems, such as a maize leaf azimuth measure-ment tool and a robotic platform for monitoring tomato disease severity, both of which accelerate breeding for improved crops. An award-winning mentor and team leader, he received the 2024 Norma L. Trolinder Graduate Student Mik HammersColorado StateEndowment Award. His work University advances agricultural sustainabilitySarah JonesIowa State UniversityHammers, a Ph.D. student, combinesby bridging cutting-edge technol- Jones, a Ph.D. candidate in plant breed-genetics, genomics, and machine learn- ogy with practical applications foring, is an innovative researcher with ing to address critical challenges in wheatfarmers and breeders. expertise spanning over 12 crops. Her production. Building on her mastersmasters degree work at ISU pioneered research, which explored wheat breed- machine learning methods for early ing and physiology (The Plant Phenomedisease detection, producing founda-Journal, 2022), she now focuses on miti- tional publications. Now, her research gating the impact of wheat stem sawfly, afocuses on drought response in soybeans, major pest in the Great Plains. Her innova- leveraging advanced sensor phenotyping tive approach integrates cutting-edgeand machine learning to develop resilient tools to develop solutions that supportvarieties.sustainable wheat production. Her achievements include prestigious Beyond her research, she demon- honors such as the National Association strates strong leadership and communityof Plant Breeders Borlaug Scholar Award engagement. She serves on CSUs Ramsand ISUs Outstanding Graduate Student Against Hunger Food Security Council,Award. She is a dedicated mentor, having the Growing Food Security Leadershipguided numerous students, and a leader, Team, and played a key role in organ- serving as president of the plant breed-izing the 2024 Corteva Plant Scienceing graduate student organization. Jones Symposium. Her dedication to impactfulblend of technical expertise, leadership, research and service makes her a stand- and commitment to advancing agricul-out in the wheat breeding community. tural sciences makes her an exceptional candidate for recognition.28/ SEEDWORLD.COMJANUARY 2025'