About

The Jahn Research Group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, associated with Professor Molly Jahn, conducts research on risk in food systems. The group manages a set of networks and a global scientific research alliance that mobilizes data, information, and knowledge relevant to the dynamics of humanity's food, water, and energy provisioning. Their research focuses on human dimensions, local and planetary limits, and thresholds. Working across academia, governments, business, and civil society, the Jahn Research Group supports the creation of transparent, robust approaches designed to better depict and manage the dynamics of 21st century food, water, and energy systems in terms of human security, humanitarian, and environmental concerns.

Research topics

• Biology
• Sociology
• Genetics
• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Botany
• Evolutionary biology
• Business
• Knowledge management

Selected publications

• Enhancing Global Food Security: Opportunities for the American Meteorological Society

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2024-01-24 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Food security is a key pillar of environmental security yet remains one of the world’s greatest challenges. Its obverse, food insecurity, negatively impacts health and well-being, drives mass migration, and undermines national security and global sustainable development. Ensuring food security is a delicate balance of myriad concerns within the atmospheric and Earth sciences, agronomy and agriculture engineering, social sciences, economics, monitoring, and policymaking. A Food Security Presidential Session at the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) 2022 Annual Meeting brought together experts across disciplines to tackle issues at the nexus of weather, climate, and food security. The starkest takeaway was the realization that, despite its importance and clear roles for the atmospheric and climate sciences, food security has not been a focus for the AMS community. The aim of this paper is to build on the perspectives shared by this expert panel and to identify overlapping issues and key points of intersection between the food-security community and AMS. We examine 1) the interactions between weather, climate, and the food system and how they influence food security; 2) the time and spatial scales of food security decision support that match weather and climate phenomena; 3) the role of both providers and users of information as well as decision-makers in improving research to operations for food security; and 4) the opportunities for the AMS community to address food security. We conclude that, moving forward, the AMS community is well-positioned to scale up its engagement across the global food system to address existing scientific needs and technology gaps to improve global food security. Significance Statement We examine how members of the AMS community can help ensure global food security, whether they are engaged in the physical and social sciences or the realms of policy and society. Inspired by the messages of panelists at a Presidential Forum on Food Security at the 2022 AMS Annual Meeting, we gather their perspectives and those of experts working in the various relevant fields and find that there are roles for everyone across the AMS—from providing forecasts of the hydrometeorological variables used in food security outlooks to converting data to knowledge and engaging with stakeholders and decision-makers. We make concrete suggestions to ensure the AMS and its members are fully engaged in feeding the world.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A scalable framework for quantifying field-level agricultural carbon outcomes

  Earth-Science Reviews · 2023-05-29 · 50 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A scalable framework for quantifying field-level agricultural carbon outcomes

  2022-01-01 · 8 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Agriculture contributes nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is motivating interest in certain farming practices that have the potential to reduce GHG emissions or sequester carbon in soil. The related GHG emission (including N2O and CH4) and changes in soil carbon stock are defined here as “agricultural carbon outcomes”. Accurate quantification of agricultural carbon outcomes is the basis for achieving emission reductions for agriculture, but existing approaches for measuring carbon outcomes (including direct measurements, emission factors, process-based modeling) fall short of achieving the required accuracy and scalability necessary to support credible, verifiable, and cost-effective measurement and improvement of these carbon outcomes. Here we propose a foundational and scalable framework to quantify field-level carbon outcomes for farmland, which is based on the holistic carbon balance of the agroecosystem: Agroecosystem Carbon Outcomes = Crops (C) × Management (M) × Environment (E). Following a comprehensive review of the scientific challenges associated with existing approaches, as well as their tradeoffs between cost and accuracy, we propose that the most viable path for the quantification of field-level carbon outcomes in agricultural land is through an effective integration of various approaches (e.g. diverse observations, sensor/in-situ data, modeling), defined as the “system- of-systems” solution. Such a “system-of-systems” solution should simultaneously comprise the following components: (1) scalable collection of ground truth data and cross-scale sensing of crop conditions (C), management practices (M), and environment (E) at the local field level; (2) advanced modeling with necessary processes to support the quantification of carbon outcomes; (3) systematic Model-Data Fusion (MDF), i.e. robust and efficient methods to integrate sensing data and models at each local farmland level; (4) high computation efficiency and artificial intelligence (AI) to scale to millions of individual fields with low cost; and (5) robust and multi-tier validation systems and infrastructures to ensure solution fidelity and true scalability, i.e. the ability of a solution to perform robustly with accepted accuracy on all targeted fields. In this regard, we provide here the detailed scientific rationale, current progress, and future R&D priorities to achieve different components of the “system-of-systems” solution, thus accomplishing the Crop×Management×Environment framework to quantify field-level agricultural carbon outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Reconstruction of ancestral karyotype illuminates chromosome evolution in the genus <i>Cucumis</i>

  The Plant Journal · 2021 · 44 citations

  • Biology
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics

  Karyotype dynamics driven by complex chromosome rearrangements constitute a fundamental issue in evolutionary genetics. The evolutionary events underlying karyotype diversity within plant genera, however, have rarely been reconstructed from a computed ancestral progenitor. Here, we developed a method to rapidly and accurately represent extant karyotypes with the genus, Cucumis, using highly customizable comparative oligo-painting (COP) allowing visualization of fine-scale genome structures of eight Cucumis species from both African-origin and Asian-origin clades. Based on COP data, an evolutionary framework containing a genus-level ancestral karyotype was reconstructed, allowing elucidation of the evolutionary events that account for the origin of these diverse genomes within Cucumis. Our results characterize the cryptic rearrangement hotspots on ancestral chromosomes, and demonstrate that the ancestral Cucumis karyotype (n = 12) evolved to extant Cucumis genomes by hybridizations and frequent lineage- and species-specific genome reshuffling. Relative to the African species, the Asian species, including melon (Cucumis melo, n = 12), Cucumis hystrix (n = 12) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus, n = 7), had highly shuffled genomes caused by large-scale inversions, centromere repositioning and chromothripsis-like rearrangement. The deduced reconstructed ancestral karyotype for the genus allowed us to propose evolutionary trajectories and specific events underlying the origin of these Cucumis species. Our findings highlight that the partitioned evolutionary plasticity of Cucumis karyotype is primarily located in the centromere-proximal regions marked by rearrangement hotspots, which can potentially serve as a reservoir for chromosome evolution due to their fragility.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Knowledge management for innovation in agri-food systems: a conceptual framework

  Knowledge Management Research & Practice · 2021 · 106 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Knowledge management
  • Business

  Knowledge is a critical enabling factor for healthy agri-food innovation systems (AIS). AIS and related knowledge management (KM) frameworks face significant implementation challenges. We review applications of KM to AIS, the current state of the art and shortcomings and present a new KM framework, Agricultural Knowledge Management for Innovation (AKM4I). Previous agricultural KM frameworks do not integrate innovation pragmatically, use linear, reductionist, top-down pathways to innovation, and do not explicitly incorporate issues of power, politics, ownership, and trust when combining scientific and local knowledge across multiple stakeholders. The AKM4I framework addresses systemic interactions favouring innovation outcomes by formalising flows and management of information and knowledge between diverse sets of stakeholders; and explicitly considering previously unresolved practical and relational barriers aiming to facilitate more equitable, rapidly evolving, and actionable knowledge generation and management for innovation and transformational change. An agricultural case study serves as an example of the implementation of AKM4I.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• One CGIAR and the Integrated Agri-food Systems Initiative: From short-termism to transformation of the world’s food systems

  PLoS ONE · 2021-06-04 · 32 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Agri-food systems are besieged by malnutrition, yield gaps, and climate vulnerability, but integrated, research-based responses in public policy, agricultural, value chains, and finance are constrained by short-termism and zero sum thinking. As they respond to current and emerging agri-food system challenges, decision makers need new tools that steer toward multi-sector, evidence-based collaboration. To support national agri-food system policy processes, the Integrated Agri-food System Initiative (IASI) methodology was developed and validated through case studies in Mexico and Colombia. This holistic, multi-sector methodology builds on diverse existing data resources and leverages situation analysis, modeled predictions, and scenarios to synchronize public and private action at the national level toward sustainable, equitable, and inclusive agri-food systems. Culminating in collectively agreed strategies and multi-partner tactical plans, the IASI methodology enabled a multi-level systems approach by mobilizing design thinking to foster mindset shifts and stakeholder consensus on sustainable and scalable innovations that respond to real-time dynamics in complex agri-food systems. To build capacity for these types of integrated, context-specific approaches, greater investment is needed in supportive international institutions that function as trusted in-region 'innovation brokers.' This paper calls for a structured global network to advance adaptation and evolution of essential tools like the IASI methodology in support of the One CGIAR mandate and in service of positive agri-food systems transformation.

  PublisherDOI

• Whole‐Genome Sequence of Synthesized Allopolyploids in <i>Cucumis</i> Reveals Insights into the Genome Evolution of Allopolyploidization

  Advanced Science · 2021 · 36 citations

  • Biology
  • Genetics
  • Evolutionary biology

  , resulting in enhanced phenotypic plasticity. This study provides novel insights into plant polyploid genome evolution and demonstrates a promising strategy for the development of a wide array of novel plant species and varieties through artificial polyploidization.

  PublisherDOI

• Crisis Mapping and Crowdsourcing in Complex Emergencies

  Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics · 2021-03-24 · 4 citations

  reference-entrySenior author

  Crisis mappers secure satellite imagery, photos, video, event data, incident data, and other documentary evidence to create an operational picture of a disaster in order to facilitate improved humanitarian response and assistance in a crisis. The era of human-powered crisis mapping between 2009 and 2014 was a bootstrapped effort very much a function of the peculiar state of technological development at the time—available but not yet formalized, streamlined, and automated. Humans filled the gap until machine assistance could catch up. These efforts, often mundane (e.g., cut and paste over and over for hours), were more reflective of the state of technology at the time than anything else. Another precondition that enabled the field to grow is the often taken-for-granted public good provided by the GPS satellites maintained by the U.S. Air Force. Without this service, the project at the time would not have emerged where and when it did. The future will be shaped as a result of improvements in automated forms of data collection; improved machine learning techniques to help filter, identify, visualize, and analyze the data; and the proliferation of low-cost drones and other forms of sensors, to name a few.

  PublisherDOI

• Genetic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveal the Molecular Basis of Photoperiod-Regulated Flowering in Xishuangbanna Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. var. xishuangbannesis Qi et Yuan)

  Genes · 2021-07-13 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  Xishuangbanna (XIS) cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. var. xishuangbannesis Qi et Yuan), is a botanical variety of cucumber cultivars native to southwest China that possesses excellent agronomic traits for cucumber improvement. However, breeding utilization of XIS cucumber is limited due to the current poor understanding of its photoperiod-sensitive flowering characteristics. In this study, genetic and transcriptomic analysis were conducted to reveal the molecular basis of photoperiod-regulated flowering in XIS cucumber. A major-effect QTL locus DFF1.1 was identified that controls the days to first flowering (DFF) of XIS cucumbers with a span of 1.38 Mb. Whole-genome re-sequencing data of 9 cucumber varieties with different flowering characteristics in response to photoperiod suggested that CsaNFYA1 was the candidate gene of DFF1.1, which harbored a single non-synonymous mutation in its fifth exon. Transcriptomic analysis revealed the positive roles of auxin and ethylene in accelerating flowering under short-day (SD) light-dark cycles when compared with equal-day/night treatment. Carbohydrate storage and high expression levels of related genes were important reasons explaining early flowering of XIS cucumber under SD conditions. By combining with the RNA-Seq data, the co-expression network suggested that CsaNFYA1 integrated multiple types of genes to regulate the flowering of XIS cucumber. Our findings explain the internal regulatory mechanisms of a photoperiodic flowering pathway. These findings may guide the use of photoperiod shifts to promote flowering of photoperiod-sensitive crops.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Identification and Expression Analysis of the CsMYB Gene Family in Root Knot Nematode-Resistant and Susceptible Cucumbers

  Frontiers in Genetics · 2020-12-03 · 19 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  MYB (myeloblastosis) transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in controlling various physiological processes in plants, such as responses to biotic and abiotic stress, metabolism, and defense. A previous study identified a gene, Csa6G410090 , encoding a plant lipid transfer protein (LTP), as a possible regulator in cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L.) of the resistance response to root-knot nematode (RKN) [ Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid and White (Chitwood)]. Myb-type DNA-binding TFs were presumed to regulate downstream genes expression, including LTPs, however, the regulation mechanism remained unclear. To elucidate whether and which MYB TFs may be involved in regulation of the resistance response, this study identified 112 genes as candidate members of the CsMYB gene family by combining CDD and SMART databases, using the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) and manual calibration. Within this group, ten phylogenetic subgroups were resolved according to sequence-based classification, consistent with results from comprehensive investigation of gene structure, conserved motifs, chromosome locations, and cis -element analysis. Distribution and collinearity analysis indicated that amplification of the CsMYB gene family in cucumber has occurred mainly through tandem repeat events. Spatial gene expression analysis showed that 8 CsMYB genes were highly expressed at differing levels in ten different tissues or organs. The roots of RKN-resistant and susceptible cucumbers were inoculated with M. incognita , finding that CsMYB ( Csa6G538700 , Csa1G021940 , and Csa5G641610 ) genes showed up-regulation coincident with upregulation of the “hub” gene LTP ( Csa6G410090 ) previously implicated as a major gene in the resistance response to RKN in cucumber. Results of this study suggest hypotheses regarding the elements and regulation of the resistant response as well as possible RKN resistance-enhancing strategies in cucumber and perhaps more broadly in plants.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Michael Mazourek

  Cornell University

  49 shared

• John F. Murphy

  37 shared

• Byoung‐Cheorl Kang

  Seoul National University

  33 shared

• George J. Moriarty

  Cornell University

  32 shared

• Mary Kreitinger

  30 shared

• Michael Glos

  30 shared

• Maryann Fink

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  25 shared

• Chad Kramer

  Auburn University

  25 shared

Labs

• Jahn Research GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Plant Pathology

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1985

• M.S., Botany

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1980

• B.S., Botany

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1977