Ella Kirchner

Track
Research Frontiers

Faculty Mentor
Elinor Benami
Assistant Professor

Research Focus
My research seeks to leverage earth observation data for different agricultural purposes, specifically for agricultural monitoring and disaster relief efforts. Effective agricultural monitoring requires timely and accurate information on agricultural production, but extensive field campaigns to collect such data in a representative way are often prohibitively costly. Although existing crop models have already effectively estimated average production from earth observation data, these models tend to rely on field data for model training and validation purposes. We aim to provide insights into how to select sites for field sampling that maximize information gain while simultaneously reducing the total number of field assessments without compromising the quality of the estimates.

Why did you choose to pursue postdoctoral training at Virginia Tech?
Virginia Tech’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics is well-known for its expertise and strong academic connections in the field of agricultural economics, making it a great fit for the next step in my career. However, what really stood out to me was the opportunity to work with the people here. I had the chance to meet my current faculty mentor at a conference and learn about her exciting research projects and the valuable connections with practitioners. The opportunity to work on real-world problems with practical implications while being part of a broader academic network is what drew me to Virginia Tech.

What are you most looking forward to as you begin in this fellowship at Virginia Tech?
I see the postdoc as a time of exploration and learning. I’m excited to have the chance to engage with a diverse range of people—both in research and industry—and to keep reflecting on and learning for what comes next. The prospect of sharing this journey with a cohort of fellow postdocs who are also navigating similar questions is both exciting and motivating, and I am truly grateful for this opportunity.