In this episode Ed interviews Dr. José González-Acuña, recent Ph.D. graduate at Iowa State University. They discuss José's Thesis work on frogeye leaf spot and efforts to expand the ever growing library of plant disease predictive models.

Additional Resources

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-46975-z#Sec14

https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/horttech/27/5/article-p710.xml

https://cropprotectionnetwork.org/news/new-crop-risk-tool-enhances-disease-management-decisions

Time Stamps

00:00 Understanding Machine Learning Models

03:23 Choosing the Right Model for the Project

06:13 Metrics for Model Evaluation

08:48 Challenges in Data Collection and Standardization

11:38 Insights on Frog Eye Leaf Spot Modeling

13:44 Future Directions and Improvements

17:40 Understanding Weather Data's Role in Disease Modeling

19:42 Data Collection and Analysis for Disease Severity

21:29 Introduction to Decision Support Systems (DSS)

22:27 The Importance of Decision Support in Agriculture

24:09 Future of Predictive Modeling and Decision Support Systems

28:44 The Role of Farmers in Utilizing Predictive Models

32:14 Economic Benefits of Decision Support Systems

34:29 Elevator Pitch: Explaining Predictive Modeling to the Public

37:58 outro with logo.mp4

Zaworski, E. (Host) and González-Acuña, J. (Interviewee). S5:E8 (Podcast). Frog Eye-PM: Predictive Modeling Part 2. 5/20/2026. In I See Dead Plants. Crop Protection Network.

Transcript