Digital Agriculture Engineer and Instructor
I first met Dr. Christina Tucker, then Christina Lyvers, as a University of Kentucky student studying Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. She was an instrumental member of the UK quarter-scale tractor team, where they would often take home top honors during the national competition. As a “thank you” for funding assistance, the team would often help the Kentucky Corn Growers at their roasted corn booth during the Kentucky State Fair. This Marion County farm kid left quite an impression on me, and it has been fun watching her professional journey.
Tucker is currently an Agricultural and Biological Engineering instructor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as the Assistant Director of Education for the Center for Digital AG (CDA) and The Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability Institute (AIFARMS). Working in education as both an instructor and educational director for the Centers, her job includes a variety of responsibilities. This is her favorite part of her job because "it helps keep the job exciting and reduce burnout."
“I teach an Intro to AutoCAD class and a class called Humanities in the Food Web,” Tucker said. “The Humanities in the Food Web class is especially interesting as it attracts students from across campus. The class explores how we feed our growing global appetite for food, fuel, and fiber without becoming trapped in a web of unintended consequences.”
“The other half of my job is with CDA and AIFARMS. I am the program coordinator for a recently launched Master of Engineering in Digital Agriculture. I help organize the marketing, admission of students, and advising students for class registration. I also organize a research experience for undergrads and an AI Foundry Short Course for graduate students. I am also leading a team that is developing digital ag materials and activities for K-12 students.”
According to the University of Illinois’ website, the Center for Digital Agriculture helps researchers, educators, farmers, and industries keep pace with the ways technology is transforming how we feed and support a growing global population. They are researching everything from the nature of the data itself—its collection, storage, transmission, and analysis—to how the data might be used to optimize areas from precision agriculture to food manufacturing to water use and treatment.
Tucker grew up on a beef and tobacco farm but was exposed to the University of Kentucky’s Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering as several of her relatives had completed the program. She said the course of study was a great combination of her love of agriculture and problem-solving, and she knew she wanted to help farmers solve problems.
Tucker took on many leadership and project management experiences while at UK, and she served as team captain of the multidisciplinary quarter-scale tractor team for two years.
“During the summer between my junior and senior year of college, I attended the International Conference for the American Society of Ag and Biological Engineers. I listened to faculty and graduate students present their research, which sparked my interest in pursuing graduate degrees focused on animal welfare and livestock systems. While working on my Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, I was a teaching assistant for several classes. This experience sparked my interest in education.
“After finishing my doctorate, the opportunities with the Agricultural and Biological Engineering department and the Center of Digital Agriculture were posted, and I submitted my application. I felt these two positions were a nice combination of my desire to make an impact in agriculture, help solve problems and work in education. While I’m not directly working with farmers, I’m helping to train people who will be directly helping solve problems in agriculture.”
When asked what skills are needed to accomplish her tasks, she responded with good communication skills and time management.
“Part of good communication is learning how to communicate about projects across multidisciplinary teams so everyone is on the same page and accomplishes the project goals together. Knowing how to research to find credible sources of information has also been important for me to develop new class materials and work on projects within CDA/AIFARMS that I am unfamiliar with. The public speaking skills I gained during my FFA days are also valuable for my job.”
If she knew she would end up in this career, she believes she would have explored taking electives centered around leadership and business classes to help round out her skills.
Her advice to a young person looking at this career is to get a variety of work experiences during undergrad.
“I would suggest working in a lab doing research during the semester or summer to see if graduate school is a good fit for you and working at least one summer in an internship in the industry.”
