Gary Lamie Scholarship winner research nitrogen application and computer tools 

By Carol Witt 

Through two scholarships to Purdue University graduate students, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) is conducting innovative research in technology, phenotyping and nitrogen management to find solutions for Indiana corn farmers. 

The Gary Lamie Graduate Student Corn Research Assistant Scholarship is an award that recognizes graduate student research dedicated to improving and advancing corn agronomy and industry practices. The scholarship was created in 2014, in memory of the late Gary Lamie, a former ICMC board member and president. 

The scholarship is awarded to two students who exemplify dedication and a dream of innovation in the future of corn production. Anywhere from 4-15 applications are received each year – making it a competitive award. 

The 2026 recipients are using research and technology to address challenges facing the corn industry and to advance precision agriculture. From artificial intelligence to nitrogen management, Purdue graduate students Leonardo Lemes Bosche and Pedro Henrique Magalhaes Cisdeli, are seeking solutions that will benefit Indiana corn farmers. 

Better nitrogen management 

Bosche, is a doctorate student working under the supervision of Dr. Ignacio A. Ciampitti. Bosche’s connection to corn production began at an early age. Growing up in Brazil, Bosche helped his father with planting, crop management and harvesting between the ages of 14 to 18. 

Bosche’s early exposure to the field provided him with first-hand experience for understanding the challenges that farmers face on a day-to-day basis. He went on to focus on corn breeding and field experimentation. He then attended Kansas State University, where he worked as a field coordinator before becoming a graduate student. After completing his graduate degree in 2025, Bosche joined Purdue’s Agronomy Department where he continues to study corn nitrogen management using crop physiology, sensing technologies and data analysis. 

At Purdue, Bosche is focusing on helping farmers make better nitrogen-management decisions, while improving both productivity and environmental sustainability. His research brings together crop physiology, digital agriculture tools and advanced data analysis. Bosche utilizes on-farm experience, which has helped him develop a better understanding of the corn-sector while remaining committed to advancing sustainable, efficient and farmer-centered corn production. 

Bosche’s research began while he was at Kansas State. His focus is on improving precision nitrogen management in corn cropping systems with the goal of helping farmers be more informed on in-season N decisions that can maximize yield while minimizing the environmental impact. The research hopes to translate information about the diagnosis of corn N status into actionable decision and support tools. 

Along with combining a strong understanding of corn physiology with advanced statistical and digital tools, Bosche aspires to pursue an academic career as an agronomy research professor with a focus on corn systems. He hopes to help bridge the gap between fundamental crop research and practical applications in digital agriculture. Bosche also wants to train the next generation of agronomists and agricultural scientists to think critically and address emerging challenges in food production. 

Computer-aided applications 

The future of corn production will require more than one solution. While Bosche is working to better understand how corn uses nitrogen, Cisdeli is exploring how technology can help researchers and farmers better understand the science behind the crop. 

Cisdeli is a graduate student in agronomy also studying under Dr. Ignacio A. Ciampitti. Cisdeli is a computer scientist focused on bridging the gap between technology and agriculture in a way that is practical for farmers to adopt. He has spent the past three years working to develop machine-learning, computer-vision and data-driven tools designed to address challenges in corn production. 

Cisdeli is currently working on SPIKE, which combines low-cost hardware and software to measure traits such as ear length, diameter, volume and grain count. The system uses 3D-printed components and inexpensive motors to standardize images that were captured of harvested ears. This hardware improves consistency and can be operated from a smartphone, making it more accessible to farmers and researchers. 

His research in agriculture began with AVYield, a web-based dashboard that aggregates current and historical yield data across multiple crops with a primary focus on corn. This platform can allow farmers and researchers to search their trials by year, hybrid and location. This enables fast comparison of hybrid performance. The goal of AVYield is to allow easier access to trial data and support more informed hybrid and management decisions. 

Cisdeli’s goal is to continue to develop practical technologies that improve maize phenotyping and yield production that can be adapted for use on farms. With a background in computer vision and machine learning, he hopes to create resources that would allow breeders to allocate their resources more effectively and advance promising material faster. 

Cisdeli also sees the value in working on farmer-facing technologies, in systems that assess crop conditions, field variability and yield potential to provide more information to producers. 

History of scholarship 

The research being done by Bosche and Cisdeli highlight the different ways innovation can help address challenges in corn production. From improving nitrogen management to using technology to better measure and predict crop performance, their research is focused on finding practical solutions for challenges in the corn industry. 

ICMC supports the next generation of agricultural researchers through the Gary Lamie Corn Research Assistantship Scholarship, and it recognizes Purdue’s commitment to advancing corn research. 

This scholarship is used to inspire graduate students to think critically about how they can make a difference in the corn industry. More than a monetary award, this scholarship provides students with opportunities to expand their research, travel to conferences to present their findings, and build a strong foundation of what their future could look like in agriculture. 

Many recipients are selected for other leadership awards that further their ability to complete research. Past recipients have gone on to further their education, become professors at agricultural universities, or contribute to leading research companies while continuing to pave the path forward in corn innovation.