Working Groups represent an important opportunity for collaborative research through partnerships with members of the APRU network, fostering new research collaborations and cross-disciplinary engagement, and contributing to solutions for the pressing challenges of this century. 

Four Working Groups are confirmed to be at the APRU Food Security & Agritech Conference 2026. Conference participants can indicate their interest in joining one of the groups while completing registration.

🌍 Climate Resilience working group co-led by:

Anne Lochoff, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Nikki Grey Rutamu, UC Davis

Including digital soil mapping to inform policy and action, enhance traceability to build trust, and facilitate decarbonization efforts for soil carbon initiatives. We encourage data scientists to join the group with experience in analyzing, modeling, and predicting data related to soil intelligence.

🤖 AI-Enabled Resource Efficiency working group co-led by:

Woo Soo Kim, Simon Fraser University

Elia Scudiero, UC Riverside

The group explores how AI can improve management of water, energy, nutrients, and other critical inputs to address regional challenges such as climate variability, resource scarcity, and growing food demand. The goal is to foster interdisciplinary collaboration for the innovative approaches integrating AI, modeling, and advanced sensing technologies to improve resource productivity, agricultural resilience, and environmental sustainability.

🍎 Food Availability and Access working group co-led by:

Matthew Wilson, Adelaide University

Hannah Wittman, The University of British Columbia

This working group focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to reduce food waste and loss, create sustainable strategies that address food security, sovereignty, justice and resilience, while promoting better health and nutrition outcomes. 

🎯Disease/Pest Control working group led by:

Patricia Springer, UC Riverside

Integrating pest management with biological controls and natural pesticides, utilizing AI-driven monitoring and drones for early detection, implementing crop diversification and rotation to interrupt pest cycles, and using climate-resistant varieties to reduce chemical use and boost ecosystem resilience.

Find out more about the APRU Food Security and Agritech Program at https://www.apru.org/programs/pacific-rim-challenges/food-security/