Kyle Birchard

I have worked for 23 years in agriculture, beginning in the marketing and logistics, and have been moving closer to the plant and soil side ever since. While I have always been working with agricultural technology, I took a deliberate turn toward open hardware and software around 2016, looking to build tools to help collect data that were previously unavailable. In 2019, my small company was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation to develop a lidar-based system for flying insect detection. Ever since then, I have been working to develop new technologies to extend our understanding of agricultural systems, and am working toward where I can make meaningful contributions to the practice of open hardware, data, and science.

April 2023