Dr. Brianna B. Posadas

Introduction

My name is Dr. Brianna B. Posadas and I am an Assistant Professor at the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech. I am also a fellow with the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation and affiliated with the Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture. My research is focused on the intersection of agriculture, technology, and user-centered design.

When I completed my PhD at the University of Florida, I was the first Latina to earn a doctorate from the department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering. I received my master of science in agricultural and biological engineering also at UF and my bachelor of science in engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Research

I work with the AgrAbility and HARVEST programs at Virginia Tech continuing my research in user-centered design in agriculture that I started at the University of Florida. In addition to addressing usability and accessibility of precision agriculture technologies, I am studying how to best utilize big data in agriculture while also protecting the privacy and security rights of the growers.

My previous work in agriculture includes using hyperspectral imaging techniques to detect AMB in Fuji apples in Korea and creating a crowdsourcing platform to collect ground truth data on lambsquarters in Washington D.C. My work in agriculture was also featured in an episode of LabDaze .

My technology policy work as a Media Democracy Fund (MDF) PhDX fellows included studying predicitive policing, pre-trial risk assessments, and how social media affects communities of color. This research resulted in numerous writings which can be found on Medium. Find my recent work in the link below.

Other Things I Do

At the University of Florida, I founded the Latino/Hispanic Organization of Graduate Students, volunteered at Farm to School Alachua, spoke with elementary classrooms through Skype a Scientist, served as the graduate ambassador for the UF chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and wrote letters to aspiring scientists through Letters to a Pre-Scientist. I am currently a mentor through VineCorps where I advise high school students on their college applications. I also coordinate the yearly Hispanics in Computing meeting at the Tapia conference.