Senait Senay

Dr. Senait Senay is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, affiliated with the GEMS Informatics Initiative and Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center. Her research bridges spatial modeling, biosecurity, and agricultural sustainability, with particular focus on invasive species dynamics under climate change scenarios.

Education:

• PhD in Ecological Informatics and Biosecurity, Lincoln University (2014)
• MS in GIS and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University (2003)
• BS in Forestry, Wondo Genet College (2000)

Research Focus: Develops predictive models for agricultural pests using genomics, environmental, and socio-economic data. Her work addresses climate-driven biological invasions, pest risk assessment frameworks, and data interoperability solutions for biotic threat intelligence systems.

Publication Trends: Recent articles demonstrate cross-disciplinary integration of agricultural economics, spatial epidemiology, and climate resilience. Dominant themes include: risk modeling of invasive species (e.g., fall armyworm), climate adaptation strategies for staple crops, and big data applications in plant health.

Grant Leadership: Principal Investigator for CABI-funded maize pest risk analysis (2020-21) and Co-Investigator on multiple NSF/PEPSICO projects (2018-2026) developing deep learning approaches for global change monitoring and potato biotic threat intelligence systems.