Three Projects Selected for Funding from Fall 2025 Building Biosecurity RIR

The fall 2025 Research & Innovation Roundtable (RIR) – Building Biosecurity: Protecting Plants from Pests and Pathogens – yielded three projects that were selected for seed funding support from the Office of the President. All RIR projects are viewed as investments in the future of Iowa State University as outlined in the 2022-2031 Strategic Plan.

Iowa State University’s Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) launched the RIR program in the 2022 fiscal year as a platform for bringing together many different voices across campus to share varying perspectives and areas of expertise, leading to the self-assembly of multidisciplinary teams competing for Strategic Plan success funding.

The fall RIR was the second consecutive collaboration between Iowa State and the scientists of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). CSIRO is an Australian government agency that works with leading organizations worldwide to support scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. The university and CSIRO had previously partnered on the Spring 2025 RIR, From Risk to Resilience: Combatting Endemic and Zoonotic Microbial Threats.

Eleven self-assembled teams submitted proposals following the early-November RIR. Two of the three selected projects will receive seed funding from both Iowa State and CSIRO. In addition to aligning with the university’s strategic plan, each proposal met the program requirement of being submitted by teams comprised of members from different disciplines who employ different research approaches and methods.

“The issue of biosecurity is becoming increasingly critical, not just domestically, but globally as well,” said Vice President for Research, Peter Dorhout. “The many varied talents and areas of expertise that Iowa State University can bring to this subject area are second to none. When we combine our on-campus resources with outstanding and insightful collaborators like the leading-edge scientists of CSIRO, that is a force multiplier for bold and impactful innovation both at home and around the world.”

Here are brief overviews of each Building Biosecurity RIR research project selected for strategic investment.

Pest/Pathogen Early Sensing via Tech Optics (PESTO) Smart Seed and Grain Health: AI-Driven Raman and Optical System for Rapid Pest Detection

Principal Investigators

• Patrick Johnson, professor, Materials Science and Engineering
• Gary Munkvold, professor, Plant Pathology, Entomology, & Microbiology
• Silvina Arias, adjunct assistant professor, Plant Pathology, Entomology, & Microbiology
• Maryam Yazdani, team leader, Pest Management and Detection Technologies, Health & Biosecurity, CSIRO

Award amount

$60,000 from Iowa State; $60,000 from CSIRO

Proposed project summary

Global seed and grain industries lose billions of dollars each year due to seedborne pests and pathogens. Today’s detection methods are slow, destructive, and often unable to identify the exact species or determine whether a pest or pathogen is still alive. As a result, harmful insects, fungi, bacteria, and viruses can slip through inspection systems, lowering seed and grain quality, reducing nutrition, and threatening food safety—especially when toxins from fungi like Fusarium graminearum are involved. Faster, more accurate, non‑destructive diagnostics are urgently needed.

Iowa State and CSIRO are partnering to develop PESTO, a new AI-powered Raman and optical sensing platform designed to quickly and safely detect pests and pathogens in seeds and grains. Raman sensing works by illuminating a material with a laser and analyzing subtle shifts in scattered light, which act as molecular fingerprints, enabling highly specific, label-free identification of biological threats. The project will initially target high-impact insect pests and microbial pathogens, with a scalable framework that can expand to additional threats over time.

PESTO will enable detection of stored-grain insects (including fragments), identification of major fungal and bacterial pathogens and their associated toxins, assessment of seed viability, and application of AI models to support rapid grading, surveillance, and regulatory compliance across seed and grain systems. PESTO aims to deliver next-generation tools for global biosecurity over time by combining expertise in optics, machine learning, plant pathology, and entomology.

“The seed funding from Iowa State and CSIRO provides essential early-stage support that will accelerate development of the PESTO platform, allowing our multidisciplinary team to move quickly toward a proof-of-concept system that will strengthen global seed and grain biosecurity,” said PI Johnson. “The partnership brings Iowa State’s strengths in materials science, plant pathology, and entomology together with CSIRO’s leadership in biosecurity innovation. These complementary areas of expertise enable globally relevant solutions that neither institution could achieve alone.”

University Strategic Plan aspirational statements this project advances

• To be the trusted partner for proactive and innovative solutions
• To be the university that creates opportunities and forges new frontiers

Potential external funding partners and opportunities

Several opportunities for external funding exist within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including:

• USDA NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture)-AFRI (Agriculture and Food Research Initiative) A1112 Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems;
• USDA NIFA-AFRI A1181 Agricultural Biosecurity;
• USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC); and
• USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection Act 7721 funds.

The PESTO team also believes there are opportunities for funding through Australia’s CSIRO and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Molecular Dissection of Virulence in Southern Corn Rust to Enable Innovations in Crop Protection 

Principal Investigator (Iowa State):

• Steve Whitham, professor Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology

Co-PIs:

• Alejandro Olmedo-Velarde, assistant professor, Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology
• Madan Bhattacharyya, professor, Agronomy

Principal Investigator (CSIRO):

• Melania Figueroa, Principal Research Scientist in the interdisciplinary group Pest and Diseases

Co-PIs:

• Jana Sperschneider, senior research scientist
• Ian Greaves, senior research scientist
• Li Chen Cheah, postdoctoral fellow

Award amount

$60,000 from Iowa State; $60,000 from CSIRO

Proposed project summary

Plant diseases cause enormous losses to agriculture. Even when solutions – such as fungicides – are available, the associated expense, environmental impact, and health risks, emphasize the need for alternative solutions.

Southern Corn Rust (SCR) is a fast‑spreading fungal disease that has become increasingly threatening to corn production across the U.S. Midwest, but globally as well. Because of its growing economic impact, researchers at Iowa State and CSIRO chose SCR as a test case for a new, technology‑driven research pipeline.

CSIRO has developed a rapid screening method to search for genes – called avirulence (Avr) genes – that help scientists understand how rust fungi infect plants. Applying this method to the SCR fungus (Puccinia polysora) will allow researchers to pinpoint Avr genes that can be used to improve disease monitoring and guide the use of CSIRO’s RNA‑based tools to control the pathogen.

At the same time, identifying these Avr “effector” genes will enable Iowa State to use its discovery platform to determine how these fungal molecules interact with corn plants. This work will also help researchers study how different rust strains and their associated viruses (the “mycovirome”) may influence how harmful the disease becomes.

“This seed funding provides resources that enable our team to move into a new research area to address the increasing threat of Southern corn rust to corn production,” said PI Whitham. “The project brings together ISU and CSIRO scientists with complementary expertise and technology platforms that are expected to accelerate progress on developing new strategies for disease management.”

University Strategic Plan aspirational statements this project advances

• To be the trusted partner for proactive and innovative solutions
• To be the university that creates opportunities and forges new frontiers

Potential external funding partners and opportunities

The joint Iowa State-CSIRO team believes multiple opportunities exist for external funding through sponsorship channels both in the U.S. and Australia. Among these are:

• The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research (ROAR);
• USDA NIFA A1112 Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems (ISU);
• National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA NIFA Plant Biotic Interactions (ISU); and
• The GRDC (CSIRO).

 Agri-Ecoblitz: Data-Driven Biosecurity

Principal Investigator:

• Arti Singh, associate professor, Agronomy

Core team members:

• Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, professor, Mechanical Engineering
• Soumik Sarkar, professor, Mechanical Engineering
• Alenka Poplin, associate professor, Community and Regional Planning
• Daren Mueller, professor, Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology
• Wesley Everman, professor, Agronomy (Weed Science)
• Aditya Balu, data analyst/data scientist, Mechanical Engineering
• Lisa Schulte Moore, professor, Natural Resource Ecology and Management

Award amount

$60,000 from Iowa State

Proposed project summary

U.S. agriculture is facing growing pressure from pests, diseases, weeds, and environmental stressors—challenges intensified by global trade, shifting weather patterns, and the rapid spread of new species. These threats reduce yields, increase uncertainty for farmers, and expose vulnerabilities in national food production and supply chains. Traditional monitoring systems help, but they can’t keep pace with the scale and speed of emerging risks. New, technology‑driven approaches are urgently needed.

Agri‑Ecoblitz is a proposed platform designed to meet this need by combining advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, and large‑scale community participation. The project will crowdsource images and field observations of pests, weeds, diseases, and biodiversity across agricultural landscapes, generating high‑quality datasets for next‑generation AI models. Guided and unguided data‑collection campaigns—supported by 4H clubs, schools, citizen scientists, and agricultural professionals—will target rare, emerging, and under‑documented species. Training, gamification, expert validation, and real‑time feedback will help ensure accuracy and engagement.

The project will also upgrade ISU’s existing AI tools (InsectNet, WeedNet, DiseaseNet) and support the development of a new Midwest biodiversity app. Using modern machine learning pipelines, global‑to‑local model tuning, and uncertainty detection, Agri‑Ecoblitz aims to strengthen U.S. biosecurity and improve early detection and response to agricultural threats.

“The seed funding we received through the RIR will expand our team’s expertise, as well as the project scope, which will enable us to better serve U.S. farmers and protect national biosecurity,” PI Singh said.

University Strategic Plan aspirational statement this project advances

• To be the trusted partner for proactive and innovative solutions

Potential external funding partners and opportunities

Core team members – Singh, Ganapathysubramanian, and Sarkar – recently received a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) seed grant under the AG-BTO call. The team believes this RIR project, and the data collected through it, will enhance its pursuit of a larger DARPA biosecurity grant. Singh is a part of another proposal with PI Matt Stephenson, “Drone remote sensing for AI-enhanced monitoring and precision management of prairie biomass feedstock systems.” Outcomes from these two proposals will help chase bigger grants through USDA NIFA, especially the Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS) and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative – Strengthening Agricultural Systems (SAS).