Food security and the sustainability of our agricultural practices are two of society’s biggest challenges. To help address these issues, Applied Modelling and Quantitative Methods M.A. (AMOD) student, Bunnel Bernard is working on an algorithm to sustainably optimize crop production in his home country of Guyana.
“My research has two main objectives relating to the optimization of mixed crop planning in Guyana, specifically in Region 6,” Bunnel explains. “I am creating an algorithm to find the best combination of crops that simultaneously satisfies the objective of maximizing profit and minimizing production costs.”
The AMOD program is the perfect launchpad for Bunnel’s research. Students in the program are encouraged to cross disciplinary boundaries and share ideas as they develop models to address a range of social and scientific challenges. Before homing in on the agricultural sector here at Trent, Bunnel was developing COVID models during the pandemic.
“Applying my skills and background in mathematics and statistics to the topics of food security and precision farming is particularly relevant now,” says Bunnel. “I think this model, with its focus on maximizing profit through sustainable crop production, will have a significant impact for farmers, especially given the current economic climate with rising prices and inflation.”
Although farmers are currently cultivating around 20 different crops in the region, Bunnell will focus on the best-yielding variants for his modelling.
Bunnel is part of the first cohort of graduate students in the Sustainable Guyana program, a partnership between Trent, the University of Guyana, CGX Energy Inc., and Frontera Energy Corporation. Through the program, 12 current lecturers at the University of Guyana will enter graduate programs at Trent focusing on research areas relating to sustainable development.
He will be working alongside Dr. Suresh Narine, who chairs the Sustainable Guyana program, and leading mathematician, Dr. Kenzu Abdella, who worked on a similar project where he applied his modelling skills to help improve food production in the face of climate change in Quatar.
Bunnel completed his undergraduate Mathematics degree at the University of Guyana in 2015 and has been teaching at the university since 2017. The Sustainable Guyana program is giving him the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree and broaden his perspectives with international experience here at Trent.
“It is really difficult to get a graduate scholarship in the field of Mathematics in Guyana. When I saw Trent’s AMOD program, I felt that it suits me and my goals perfectly,” Bunnel says. “This opportunity will have a significant impact on my future. The resources available, the quality of teaching and equipment is beyond anything I would have access to back home.”
Bunnel hopes to build on his current research and pursue a PhD in statistics or a related field. He believes that the model he is developing now will give him a solid foundation from which to expand and refine future models