April 10, 2026
The AI Institutes at Michigan has honored 86 researchers and teams across the University of Michigan through its Empowering Research with AI Awards, including faculty at the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). The awards recognize their use of artificial intelligence to advance knowledge or practice in research fields.
Awards range from $1,000 to $3,000, and more than 180 submissions were received. To be considered, teams had to demonstrate that AI was central to their research, not just a supporting tool. AI methods ranged from established approaches such as machine learning and computer vision to generative and multimodal AI. The selection criteria also included the responsible use of AI, impact and clarity.
SEAS awardees and their projects are:
The Great Lakes AI Lab: A Focal Point for Freshwater Science
Dani Jones, David Cannon, Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, Casey Godwin, Yi Hong, Abby Hutson
A Blueprint for Domain Foundation Models in Physical Sciences with an Application in Water Resources
William Currie and collaborators
An AI-Enabled Tool to Measure the Little Creatures That Run the World
Thiago Gonçalves-Souza and collaborators