About Us

Forest Advanced Computing and Artificial Intelligence (FACAI) Laboratory- We go beyond conventional forest research.

• FACAI employs the paradigm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) encompassing different state-of-the-art machine learning and statistical methods to study global, regional, and local forest resource management and biodiversity conservation.
• FACAI focuses on path-defining research that has a positive impact on local people, firms, communities, and ecosystems.
• FACAI is the founding and supporting team of Science-i, a transparent and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) web platform for international research collaboration.
• FACAI's research findings are published on international journals Science, Nature, and PNAS.
• FACAI is a Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative (GFBI) continental center of research, education, and public outreach for North America, a strong advocate for international collaboration.

FACAI has two parallel foci. The economic focus (FACAI-ECON) is supervised by Prof. Mo Zhou, and the ecological focus (FACAI-ECO) is supervised by Prof. Jingjing Liang. All the graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are affiliated with FACAI-ECON, FACAI-ECO, or both.

Our diverse and vibrant team.

We are compiling the first global ground-sourced forest inventory database (GFBI) for worldwide economic and ecological research projects. We have 256G-RAM nodes at the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, the research computing arm of Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), the University’s central IT organization, and have access to 3-Tb storage space at Purdue Data Depot, a high-capacity, fast, reliable and secure data storage service designed, configured and operated for the needs of Purdue researchers in any field and shareable with both on-campus and off-campus collaborators.

We are in close collaboration with the GFBI Hubs in Lleida (Spain) and Zurich (Switzerland), and GFBI affiliated institutions including Beijing Forestry University (China), Wageningen University and Research, and University of Florida.

Updates

Jingjing Liang Advances Forest Monitoring with AI in AIM4Forests Program

Jingjing Liang is working with the Forest Monitoring and Data Platforms team of the Forestry Division. Contributing to the AIM4Forests programme, Jingjing will build a comprehensive machine-learning approach to better understand forest growth, addressing a critical data gap in the quantification of emissions and removals (Emission Factors) from forest degradation and forest restoration in a variety of forest types, forest management scenarios and geographies. Jingjing will also contribute to the team’s innovation work streams, exploring the integration of artificial intelligence and big data into forest monitoring and data management systems.

Science-i Bridging Worlds Workshop, May 6-7, 2024 at Purdue University

On May 6-7, 2024, the Science-i team initiated the Global Big Ideas Competition and the Bridging Worlds Workshop to foster a community focused on forest management. The workshop featured 70 participants from 22 countries, and more than half of these participants are early-career researchers and students from the Global South and indigenous communities. The workshop also featured notable speakers, including world-renowned researchers, an editor from PNAS, a journalist from Mongabay, and representatives from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Indian Carbon Coalition, and the Central Africa Forest Observatory. Researchers worldwide submitted proposals, and 10 projects were selected by an expert panel. These projects received travel support through the Science-i NSF grant to participate in the workshop at Purdue University.

View a detailed report of the event here.

Prof. Kumar joined the FACAI lab, FNR as a Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Scholar

Dr. Amit Kumar joined the laboratory of Prof. Jingjing Liang to work on developing an improved model for the global forest dynamics using the potential of remote sensing datasets, especially SAR. Dr. Kumar is a Professor of Geography at Sikkim University in India and is currently affiliated with Purdue University under the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship program.

Join us - We’re always looking for highly motivated graduate research assistants and post-doctoral researchers who will strengthen our laboratory with creativity and innovation. We value diversity of experience, knowledge, background and perspective and welcome applicants from various disciplines, including but not limited to ecology, economics, engineering, data science, and social science. For the most updated opportunities, please visit here.

For details, please visit our link for prospective team members and the FNR Graduate Student Handbook.

Sponsor us - Are you a sponsor and leader with vision? We are always looking for collaborators, sponsors, and joint venture partners. With high-performance computing resources and artificial intelligence, we can develop research with only a fraction of the cost. For details, please visit our link for sponsors.