Olatunde Akanbi (GRS '24, materials science and engineering)
PhD student researcher
Center for Advancing Sustainable and Distributed Fertilizer Production at the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension Center
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Case School of Engineering
Area of focus: Agricultural and geospatial research
In a world of rising crop demand and increasing pressure on farmers to deliver faster results to meet the needs of a growing global population, PhD candidate Olatunde Akanbi's research is dedicated to minimizing the harmful ecological impact caused by fertilizers. His goal is to use innovative technology to enhance agricultural systems while promoting long-term sustainability.
Akanbi's work leverages large-scale datasets, including satellite imagery and U.S. Geological Survey sensor data, to monitor crop health and soil nutrient flows. He's been working with experts at Kelvin Smith Library through a Freedman Fellowship to use geo-spatiotemporal data modeling to enhance precision agriculture, an approach that uses real-time data and spatial analysis to optimize farming practices and resource use.
"Sensors in rivers and lakes provide information on the amount of pollutants in the water every 15 minutes at stations all across the U.S.-that is a lot of data to pull in," said Akanbi, whose work is housed in the university's Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension Research Center. "The Freedman Center's team introduced me to Geographic Information System (GIS) software that helped me integrate the data for Ohio and make predictions."
Fertilizer runoff remains a critical environmental challenge. While up to 80% of fertilizers used in agriculture are washed away before plants can absorb them-polluting bodies of water and harming aquatic life-Akanbi believes that by integrating GIS tools and predictive models we can better understand and mitigate these impacts.
"We can't stop using fertilizers," said Akanbi. "But my work is looking at whether we can help monitor crop health to enhance their use and even reuse the waste that contains the nutrients that were not absorbed."
Akanbi hopes that combining advanced geospatial techniques and high-performance computing technology will lead to farmers eventually having tools to boost productivity and support environmental stewardship. His research has already earned several accolades, including first-place honors at the National Science Foundation's Center for Advancing Sustainable and Distributed Fertilizer Production Annual Symposium and receiving the best three-page poster paper award among more than 100 submissions at last year's Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Big Data Conference.
Away from work, Akanbi enjoys spending time with his wife-also a Case Western Reserve PhD student-and their 4-year-old child, and volunteering with the Deeper Christian Life Ministry.
