Spring 2024 Data Science Seminar Series–Cynthia Parr

Speaker: Cynthia Parr, Ph.D., Chief Data Officer of USDA’s Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area

Faculty Host: Seth Murray, SOSC

Abstract: The Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area is in a unique position as USDA enters a new era of data science. REE’s four agencies, led by the Office of the Chief Scientist, have deep experience in collecting, analyzing, and sharing data to tackle critical agricultural challenges, and in working with academic and industry partners to push the frontiers of agricultural technology. However, recent seismic shifts in the computational landscape and relevant markets could threaten the ability of a large bureaucracy to maintain leadership in the research enterprise. In this seminar, Dr. Parr summarizes the state of play in USDA data science, arguing that the continuity and reach of REE’s activities make it a force multiplier for agricultural innovation. REE invests in data workforce development and open science. It leads USDA’s cross-agency Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence. Data products such as NASS’s Census of Agriculture and public repositories such as the Ag Data Commons and PubAg are poised to provide an equitable foundation for future advances. Moreover, REE increasingly uses data to improve the effectiveness and transparency of its operations. These efforts provide unprecedented opportunity for data scientists to advance both agricultural science and trust in government.

Biography: Dr. Cynthia Parr leads USDA’s public access policy and implementation from the Agricultural Research Service’s National Agricultural Library. She also leads the REE data and analytics program, coordinating initiatives across ARS, ERS, NASS, NIFA, and OCS in support of the Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act. She currently co-leads the USDA AI Center of Excellence and co-chairs the international Research Data Alliance IGAD community of practice: Improving Global Agricultural Data. Prior to joining USDA ten years ago, Dr. Parr served as Chief Scientist of the Encyclopedia of Life at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Parr received a BA in biology from Cornell University and an MS and PhD in biology from the University of Michigan. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Seoul National University in South Korea and held research positions in computer science at UMBC and the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory of University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Parr has authored over 60 scholarly works and organized 40 conferences, workshops, and symposia. She was the first woman to chair the Biodiversity Information Standards organization (the Taxonomic Databases Working Group) and has served on the board of the Earth Science Information Partners.

You can also click this link to join the seminar

For more information about TAMIDS Seminar Series, please contact Ms. Jennifer South at jsouth@tamu.edu