The Department of Statistics Cordially invites to the seminar presented by LeAnna Guerin. LeAnna Guerin is the Director of Data Science & Data Engineering at Bayer Crop Science, St. Louis, MO. She will present “A Statistician’s Career Journey in Agriculture”

A Statistician’s Career Journey in Agriculture

The world’s population recently hit 8 billion people and is on track for 9 billion by 2050. At the same time, there are demands for greater food transparency in developed regions and we are asking farmers to meet these demands without bringing new land into cultivation. For farmers, they are looking for ways to maximize their land, productivity, and environmental impact. The good news is technological advancements including precision agriculture tools, drone technology for crop monitoring, and AI-driven predictive analytics will make it possible to meet these challenges. This evolution provides farmers with an entirely new kind of product experience which can help them increase yield and improve profitability, farm more efficiently, and manage risk. Additionally, tech advancements will generate new opportunities to connect data and insights more deeply with the value chains that rely on their farms. LeAnna will share her career journey and discuss skills important for statisticians wishing to pursue a career in the agricultural industry including software proficiency, understanding of agricultural science, experience with data visualization tools, and ability to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams.

About the Speaker:

LeAnna Guerin, Director of Data Science & Data Engineering, Digital Farming Solutions, Bayer Crop Science, St. Louis, MO
LeAnna grew up in Malcolm, Nebraska, about ten miles from UNL. She enjoyed small town life and was surrounded by agriculture; she also was pretty good at math. Following her passion to help solve problems for people and the planet, she pursued degrees in statistics obtaining her B.S. in Statistics/Actuary Science from UNK, M.S. in Biometry from UNL, and PhD in Biostatistics from Virginia Commonwealth University. Upon graduating from VCU, LeAnna joined Monsanto (now Bayer) in St. Louis as a Statistician in the Regulatory Sciences department where she collaborated with agronomists and scientists using statistical methods to evaluate the genetics x environment x management practices on the performance of crops to demonstrate environmental safety. She then was Sr. Manager of Data Science & Analytics in the Global Commercial organization evaluating the performance and fit of new seed products on farmers’ fields around the world. For the past five years she has held roles in Digital Farming where she led the development of statistical, machine learning, and optimization models to predict the optimal selection and placement of soybean varieties on an operation to maximize the farmer’s return on investment.