Zhou Zhang moved to Indiana in 2013 for graduate study at Purdue University. Her plan was to pursue the potential aerospace applications of remote sensing. At the time, she had no idea that what she was studying could someday be applied to the field of agriculture.

Zhang found her way to UW–Madison in March 2019, when she accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Now she combines advanced remote sensing with machine-learning techniques for agricultural applications.

Remote sensing uses airborne sensors on satellites or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to document environmental or structural information faster and more accurately than prior methods. And machine learning is the process by which a computer system develops the ability to mimic human reasoning. A familiar example is self-driving cars that can recognize obstacles and traffic signals.