Elaine Swanson

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Elaine Swanson
Technical Lead
Harvard CSE Master's Graduate

Elaine Swanson is a graduate of the Harvard master’s program in computational engineering at SEAS and a current teaching assistant for the same program. She utilizes tabular and satellite data from USDA’s NASS and machine learning algorithms to monitor agricultural yields, as well as NSIDC data to assess water resources for irrigation. Elaine’s experiences as a vegetable produce farmer, combined with her bachelor’s degree in mathematical biology and botany from Oregon State University, inspire her to develop models aimed at addressing agricultural shocks resulting from population growth, shifting climate patterns, and monoculture practices. Her goal is to provide critical information needed to support logical agriculture and water management policies for the rural Western United States. She is also motivated to get more student interest and support for the agriculture climatology field in applied math and computation programs in Ivy League schools.