Leveraging Big Data and AI to Strengthen Food Security and Promote Sustainable Agriculture
The outcomes of the National High School Big Data Challenge Program — a program that strengthens students’ problem-solving and computational thinking abilities in the real world.
2025
High School Big Data Challenge™
HSBDC offers an extracurricular, interdisciplinary, experiential learning program that strengthens students’ problem-solving and computational thinking abilities and introduces them to open science.
HSBDC™
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Program Statistics
Participants Grade
HSBDC
48.7%
participants are in grade 10 or less. Grades: 9 - 1.5%, 10 - 12.3%, 11 - 50.8%, 12 - 34.9%
90.38%
checkpoint 1 submission
86.54%
checkpoint 2 submission
Locations
HSBDC
9/10
schools are from Canada. 56% - Eastern Canada, 43% - Western Canada, 1% - Flekke, Norway
Culminating Events
Western Canada Finals
Calgary, AB, February 20, 2026
University of Calgary Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking
From Harvest to Food Security: Machine Learning Forecasts for the United States
Cathy Rong, Saya Taher, Sabrina Qian, Renisa Ghosh, Arthur Jiang
A Multivariate Analysis of the Influence of Soil Conditions on Wheat Yields
Akash Anand, Richard Gao, Lucien Lin, Justin Nguyen, Arnav Sinha
Predicting the Effects of Climate Anomalies on Yield Deviations of Major Crops
Harper Yang, Treasure Atewologun
Investigating the Significance of Weather Conditions on Cercospora Disease Development in Agriculture
Joy Samanta, Cole Lam, Harsh Vadodariya, Ronald Li, Shicheng Zhang
Predicting Child Stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Agricultural Indicators
Chenwei Pan, Aiza Khwaja
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
From Harvest to Food Security: Machine Learning Forecasts for the United States
Cathy Rong, Saya Taher, Sabrina Qian, Renisa Ghosh, Arthur Jiang
A Multivariate Analysis of the Influence of Soil Conditions on Wheat Yields
Akash Anand, Richard Gao, Lucien Lin, Justin Nguyen, Arnav Sinha
Predicting the Effects of Climate Anomalies on Yield Deviations of Major Crops
Harper Yang, Treasure Atewologun
Investigating the Significance of Weather Conditions on Cercospora Disease Development in Agriculture
Joy Samanta, Cole Lam, Harsh Vadodariya, Ronald Li, Shicheng Zhang
Predicting Child Stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa Using Socioeconomic, Environmental, and Agricultural Indicators
Chenwei Pan, Aiza Khwaja
Gracia Dong
Assistant Professor, Human Biology & Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto
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Lin Dong
Professor, Information Technology Management, Toronto Metropolitan University
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Lesley Campbell
Professor, Chemistry & Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University
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Daorui Han
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University
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Samuel Gyamerah
Assistant Professor, Mathematics, Toronto Metropolitan University
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Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
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Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
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David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
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Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
Jinoj Titus
Senior Director, Data and AI Engineering, RBC
LinkedIn Icon
Todd Slivinskas
Director, Technology, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
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Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
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Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
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Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
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Kelley Charlebois
Executive Director
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eastern Canada Finals
Toronto, ON, February 11, 2026
University of Toronto Hart House Building, Great Hall
AgroVision: Spatiotemporal Deep Learning for Large-Scale Crop Mapping and Food Security Assessment
Sofiya Zuykova, Bill Gu, Andrew Xiang, Valeria Zhao, Andy Li
Quantifying the Influence of Precipitation on Wheat Yield in Texas
Leo Tan, Andrew (Dingwang) Han, James Chee
Data Driven Crop Selection Using Soil And Climate Variables
Kevin Sun, Prithvvi Rana, Eshwar Sai Ganipineni, Ethan Liang
Coral Reef Degradation and Its Impact on Food Security in the Caribbean
Sofia Mazareanu, Mia Tutty, Melissa Falbo, Lilian Bella Gregory, Eunice Liang
Using Oceanographic Data to Identify High-Yield Kelp Farming Sites in British Columbia
Jedidiah Arimoro, James Harman, Eddie Clark, Eason Zhang, Kai Mcleod
AI for Evaluating Irrigation Impact on Crop Yield in Northern Nigeria
Sharon (Xinyu) Li, Emeline Wu, Yina Li, Jason Zhang, William Li
Urbanization and Agricultural Expansion: The Future of Ontario’s Farmland
Leqi Xiong, Nayal Raza, Kyle Ding, Eddie Zhang, Benny Bu
Ameliorating the Intergenerational Impact of Agent Orange Exposure on Child Health Outcomes
Simon Zhang, Charley Qin, Kermit Ke, Jereme Niu, Emmett Yu
Leveraging Big Data and AI: Predicting Crop Yields for Climate-Resilient Food Security
Ken Deng, Harry Chen, Xinran Feng, Everett Hamel
Spatial Clustering and Changepoint Detection in Forecast Failure Analysis
Sofia Bodnar
Tears in the Safety Net: Investigating the Efficiency of Ontario’s Social Security
Ayesha Siddique, Zainab Siddique
Projected Climate Impacts on U.S. Wheat Yields Using a Machine-Learning Framework under a Moderate Emissions Scenario
Jed Lin, Danny Zhang, Hudson Haas, Darius Aul
County-Level Corn Yield Prediction Using Multi-Source Data and Neural Networks
Jaideep Delow, Girish Nischal, Jan Ziv Prieto, Josh Durrant, Harjas Singh
A Data-Driven Optimization Engine For Precision Irrigation Scheduling in Ontario Soil
Marton Galicza, Yuhong Chen, Jack Wilson, Stuart Li
AI Dashboard for Crop Planning in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Amelia Geng
Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Food Security Factors
Aaditya Bansal, Tristin Lucas Liu, Ryan Wang Yan, Ekam Singh Virk
A Data-Driven Optimization Engine for Precision Irrigation Scheduling in Ontario Soil
Yuhong Chen, Jack Wilson, Marton Galicza, Stuart Li
Impact of Climate Change on US Wheat Yields Using Machine-Learning Forecasting
Danny Zhang, Darius Aul, Hudson Haas, Jed Lin
Climate Driven Forecasting of Wheat Pathogen Outbreaks in North America
Gurnoor Kaur
Predictive Modeling of Canadian Crop Production Under Current Climate Conditions
Geetika Choudhury
Predictive Modeling of Northern Canada Food Price Volatility: A Hybrid Linear-Tree Approach
Junran (Charlotte) Hu
Winners
Winners of Canada’s National Big Data and AI Challenge
Projected Climate Impacts on U.S. Wheat Yields Using a Machine-Learning Framework under a Moderate Emissions Scenario
Jed Lin, Danny Zhang, Hudson Haas, Darius Aul
A Data-Driven Optimization Engine For Precision Irrigation Scheduling in Ontario Soil
Marton Galicza, Yuhong Chen, Jack Wilson, Stuart Li
AI Dashboard for Crop Planning in Alberta and Saskatchewan
Amelia Geng
Russian Invasion of Ukraine on Food Security Factors
Aaditya Bansal, Tristin Lucas Liu, Ryan Wang Yan, Ekam Singh Virk
A Data-Driven Optimization Engine for Precision Irrigation Scheduling in Ontario Soil
Yuhong Chen, Jack Wilson, Marton Galicza, Stuart Li
Impact of Climate Change on US Wheat Yields Using Machine-Learning Forecasting
Danny Zhang, Darius Aul, Hudson Haas, Jed Lin
Climate Driven Forecasting of Wheat Pathogen Outbreaks in North America
Gurnoor Kaur
Predictive Modeling of Canadian Crop Production Under Current Climate Conditions
Geetika Choudhury
Predictive Modeling of Northern Canada Food Price Volatility: A Hybrid Linear-Tree Approach
Junran (Charlotte) Hu
Gracia Dong
Assistant Professor, Human Biology & Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto
LinkedIn Icon
Lin Dong
Professor, Information Technology Management, Toronto Metropolitan University
LinkedIn Icon
Lesley Campbell
Professor, Chemistry & Biology, Toronto Metropolitan University
LinkedIn Icon
Daorui Han
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University
LinkedIn Icon
Samuel Gyamerah
Assistant Professor, Mathematics, Toronto Metropolitan University
LinkedIn Icon
Vivek Saahil
Manager – Strategic Business Analysis, Planning & Support, Pratt & Whitney Canada
LinkedIn Icon
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
LinkedIn Icon
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
Special Guests
Provides expertise and fosters connections with government academia, and industry to guide initiatives.
Jinoj Titus
Senior Director, Data and AI Engineering, RBC
LinkedIn Icon
Todd Slivinskas
Director, Technology, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
David Lapides
Vice President, Programs, Let’s Talk Science
LinkedIn Icon
Stephanie Bach
President & Founder Bach it Up Agri-Consulting Ltd; Board Member, STEM Fellowship
LinkedIn Icon
Salma Lakhani
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
LinkedIn Icon
Dr. Joel Martin
NRC’s Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer
LinkedIn Icon
Edith Dumont
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
LinkedIn Icon
Kelley Charlebois
Executive Director
LinkedIn Icon
How do our conferences look?
Watch the recap of STEM Fellowship Eastern Canada Conference
Blue and white cartoon owl figurine sitting on a pile of assorted closed books with worn covers.

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