Research

Our work is challenge-focused and impact-driven.

Solutions Start Here

Just as plants are integral to a wide breadth of our daily lives, from agriculture and climate change to energy and human health, so too must the plant sciences be dynamic and interdisciplinary in order to solve the grand challenges of our time. The plant sciences require the collaborative effort of great minds across all disciplines, approaching applied research through bold curiosity, academic barrier-breaking, multi-sector partnerships and technological innovation.

Increasing yields
Creating new varieties
Extending growing seasons
Enhancing agricultural and environmental sustainability
Producing new and improved technology

Preparing farms to keep pace with a fast-moving future to help ensure a healthier, well-fed world.

3 Research Platforms

The N.C. PSI has five strategic platforms that bridge the gaps between research, education and extension to provide cross-disciplinary support and amplify the impact of plant sciences research toward achieving common goals. Three platforms are research-focused:

Plant Improvement

Data-driven Plant Sciences

Resilient Agricultural Systems

Anna Stepanova and a researcher in a growth chamber

Research Programs

Interdisciplinary research teams address plant improvement, data-driven plant science and resilient agricultural systems.

$Two people work with plants in a rooftop greenhouse\$

Research Facilities

Top-notch research facilities provide a direct competitive advantage for our innovative research.

Enabling next-generation science

Jack Wang and Rodolphe Barrangou in Greenhouse

Research Expertise

Our faculty have diverse and complimentary research expertise to tackle agriculture’s grand challenges.

Explore

Commercialization

We help entrepreneurs get great ideas to market.

Where startups get their start

AI at the N.C. PSI

The N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative is charting a course for the future of agriculture, leveraging artificial intelligence with a three-pronged approach: cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, extension and workforce development.

Explore Our Approach

Man with robotiic device in a field of plans — Weilong He, a graduate student in agricultural engineering, works with robots to help automate the assessment of healthy plant leaves in the field.

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Thriving Together

Connecting the brightest minds in academia, government and industry to drive vital research and innovation.

Explore a Partnership

Students gather in a poster-filled hallway to to discuss research

Conference Explores Intersection of Biology and Engineering

With N.C. PSI faculty playing key roles, the recent Green-G Conference brought together experts in disciplines ranging from electrical engineering to ecology to explore how cutting-edge biosensing, data science, imaging, signal processing and other technology can allow us to better observe natural processes and come up with practical concepts for telecommunications and data management.

Jing Zhang with smartphone in a blueberry field

From Unexpected Beginnings to the Future of Digital Ag

N.C. PSI faculty affiliate Jing Zhang breaks new ground using high-tech tools to gather and analyze data better and faster for improved plant breeding and crop production.

Sarah Dinger, Jie Pacelli and Lauren Maynard

Three from N.C. PSI Honored for Excellence

N.C. PSI staff members score awards for their work on behalf of team agriculture, with Sarah Dinger and Jie Pacelli honored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Lauren Maynard by NC State Research and Innovation.

Study Reveals How Strawberries Were Ambushed By Fungal Parasites

Research on the genetics and movement of the fungal pathogen that causes powdery mildew could aid a broader understanding of how plant diseases emerge in new places. N.C. PSI faculty affiliate Michael Bradshaw is corresponding author of a PNAS paper on the research.

Researcher holds a smartphone as she stands near blueberry bushes

Ripe for the Picking

N.C. PSI affiliate Jing Zhang works with Extension agents to develop an AI-powered smartphone app to give blueberry growers a more precise way to decide when to harvest.

Pacelli Honored for Efforts To Ensure Wise Resource Use for World-Class Research

For helping ensure wise stewardship in the NC State’s Plant Sciences Building, Jie Pacelli earned the 2026 CALS Value Award. She is the N.C. PSI’s research operations manager.