Welcome to the Digital Agronomy and Weeds Lab

Claudia Quilesfogel-Esparza

Photo by: Claudia Quilesfogel-Esparza

Located at the University of Manitoba and lead by Dilshan Benaragama, Crop Protection Chair, the Digital Agronomy and Weeds Lab (DAWL) aims to create a remote sensing data-driven platform to develop decision-making tools for effective weed management in crops.

Research Interests

LiDAR Surveying Flight Over Soybean Fields

Our research interests cover a range of areas including:

• Crop yield prediction using remote sensing
• Multi-scale data analysis in plant phenotyping
• Monitoring and assessing landscape dynamics at various spatiotemporal scales
• Remote sensing weed-crop interference and data-driven weed management decision-making tools

• Determining crop-weed competition dynamics using remote sensing approaches

• Effect of integrated weed management on weed phenology and weed persistence

Dr. Dilshan Benarangama

Dr. Benaragama's research program focused on understanding weed adaptation to biotic and abiotic factors in agroecosystems and designing integrated weed management strategies. Dr. Benaragama also focus on understanding long-term weed dynamics due to diverse cropping systems. Apart from understanding weed biology and ecology, he has delve in to remote sensing and precision agriculture technologies where he tries to integrate remote sensing techniques (drone-based multispectral and LiDAR) into weed and agronomy research and then develop precise decision making tools for farmers.

Our lab is home to a dedicated group of graduate students and skilled technicians

MSc. Student

Uthpala Ekanayake

I am Uthpala Ekanayake, master's student in weed science, researching the effects of Integrated Crop Management (ICM) on weed phenology and weed seed persistence. My work focuses on optimizing cultural and nutrient management strategies to improve weed control and crop competition in spring wheat.

MSc. Student

Shirmith Nirmal

I am Shirmith Nirmal, a MSc student in Digital Weed Lab. I study the responses of crop - weed dynamics to different agronomic practices using Remote Sensing.

MSc. Student

Pantha Azad

I am pursuing my Master’s in Plant Science, specializing in precision agriculture and remote sensing. My research focuses on utilizing LiDAR technology to assess crop growth and development, with an emphasis on creating innovative remote sensing tools for evaluating in-field performance for field crops. I am particularly interested in exploring how emerging technologies can enhance sustainable agricultural practices.

MSc. Student

Shamima Sultana

I am majoring in plant science, doing research on how alternative crop seeding systems can be used to target the phenology of weed seed production and weed persistence. My main target is to improve the crop production systems by reducing crop weed competition.

MSc. Student

Matt Fallis

I specializing in plant science, with a focus on remote sensing to develop the best management practices in soybeans. My research explores how digital technologies can be utilized for crop monitoring, yield estimates, and biomass estimates to make management decisions in the field. Through this work, I aim to contribute to more precise and data-driven agricultural practices

PhD Student

Kosar Eivani

I am a Ph.D. student in Plant Science at the University of Manitoba. I holds a master's degree in Agroecology from Shahid Beheshti University, where I developed a strong interest in the application of remote sensing in agriculture. Now, my research focuses on exploring UAV features and their implementation in weed management to develop a decision-making tool for farmers.

Technician

Jonathan Rosset

Since 2004, I've been involved in Weed Science, starting at a seed cleaning plant where I evaluated seeds in cleaned samples. I later taught weed science labs at the University of Manitoba and my master's degree in 2020, focusing on cultural weed management in soybean production. After a break as an agronomist in southern Alberta, I now work as a research technician at the Digital Agronomy and Weeds lab, focusing on data collection, field trials, weed biology.

Technician

Claudia Quilesfogel-Esparza

I have been working at the University of Manitoba since 2023, having completed my MSc in Soil Science. In my role, I manage remote sensing operations, act as a GIS technician, and help coordinate and supervise fieldwork, in addition to providing training.