Jinglu Tan, Ph.D.

Don’t look now, but your plants are glowing.

Research at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources is investigating this glow, or delayed fluorescence, that may someday help farmers monitor the health of their crops to more accurately apply fertilizers, water and pesticides.

“This research is very new,” said Jinglu Tan, director of food systems and biological engineering at CAFNR and one of the world’s few researchers in delayed fluorescence. “No, I can’t scan a field today with a camera and tell you what is wrong with them yet, but such technology is possible in the future.”