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Emmanuel Cooper

Emmanuel Cooper is PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Tommy Butts. He grew up in Monrovia, Liberia, and obtained his B.S. in Agronomical Sciences (BSc) from EARTH University in 2015. He also obtained a Master's degree in Horticultural Science from Purdue in 2024. His research focuses on remote and proximal sensing techniques for site-specific weed management. His research objectives include:

  1. Evaluate the use of imaging techniques for detecting and identifying weed seeds within the soil seedbank (in situ & ex situ);
  2. Train and validate the use of machine learning (ML) algorithms to detect and identify weed seeds;
  3. Investigate the use of remote sensing tools (drone and satellite imaging) for detecting emergence patterns of weeds in row crops.

Awards and Recognitions

From EARTH University

  • Open Society Foundation Scholar (2011-2015)
  • Heliconia Prize (Most Outstanding student of graduating class in 2015)
  • Distinguished Student of Graduating class in 2015.

From Purdue University

  • Outstanding Graduate Extension Award (2024)
  • Dr. Stephen Weller Graduate Endowment Travel award (2024)
  • Third place – WSSA 64th Annual Conference Student Single slide talk contest (2024)
  • First place – NCWSS 78th Annual Conference Student Oral Contest (2023)
  • Dr. Dagnatchew Yirgou Endowment Travel Award (2022).

Other Recognitions

  • Four (4) first author and one (1) coauthor scientific publications and three (3) extension articles or publications.
  • Over dozens of presentations to stakeholders from different groups including Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC), Indiana Horticultural Conference (IHC), Inlliana Melon and Vegetable Growers Association, Purdue Agriculture Centers (PACs) Field Days, etc.