Daniela Jones

Daniela Jones is an Assistant Professor in Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University (NC State), with a joint faculty appointment at Idaho National Laboratory. Her research focuses on optimizing agricultural supply chains and renewable energy systems through geospatial analytics, operations research, and decision intelligence frameworks. She directs the Agricultural Analytics program under NC State's Data Science Academy and serves as a faculty fellow in the Center for Geospatial Analytics and Operations Research Program.

Dr. Jones holds a Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.S. and B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University. She has held postdoctoral, industry, and international research roles, including at Duke University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her work emphasizes leveraging data science to enhance sustainability in agriculture, including biomass logistics, sweetpotato quality prediction, and climate-smart practices like conservation tillage.

• Education:
  • Ph.D., Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University (2017)
  • M.S., Industrial Engineering, Mississippi State University (2012)
  • B.S., Industrial Engineering, Mississippi State University (2009)
• Awards:
  • Alfred P. Sloan Scholar (Texas A&M, during Ph.D.)
  • Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) Fellow (student mentorship)

Her research integrates satellite imagery, machine learning, and optimization models to address challenges in bioenergy production, sustainable aviation fuels, and agricultural yield prediction. She advises multiple graduate students exploring topics like biomass supply chains, smart phenotyping systems, and manure nutrient cycling.

Labs/Teams: IDEALS Lab (Intelligent Data for Energy and Agriculture Logistics and Supply Chains), a translational research group applying data-driven solutions to agricultural and energy sector sustainability challenges.