Hunter Merrill

Hunter R. Merrill, PhD

Data Scientist | ML Engineer | Program Lead

I specialize in data-driven decision support and risk mitigation with evidence-based tools and software. I have extensive experience managing the full research cycle, from experimental design to the delivery of peer-reviewed findings and AI-based decision-support tools. My work spans global health, environmental sustainability, and precision agriculture.

Experience

I improved pediatric patient outcomes and reduced malnutrition treatment cost in Gombe, Nigeria.

  • Built a facial recognition model with 99% true acceptance/rejection rates and 97% top-three accuracy.
  • Forecasted the decay of facial recognition accuracy as malnourished children recover and grow.
  • Built and deployed a mobile app for contactless on-device biometric identification.
  • Built and automated a backend system to update biometric templates.
  • Integrated GCP OAuth 2.0 for secure user authentication in the mobile biometric app.
  • Collaborated with field teams and local stakeholders to pilot biometric identification, ensuring ethical and effective implementation in low-resource settings.
  • Discovered a cohort of repeat patients and performed analyses to improve treatment protocols for relapse cases.
  • Forecasted anthropometric recovery trajectories for malnourished children to identify those most at-risk of nonresponse and death.
  • Translated research findings into operational improvements, identifying key implications for malnourished patient protocols and improving long-term recovery.
Climate LLC / Bayer May 2017 – Present

I lead agile teams delivering scalable AI solutions for precision agriculture — influencing strategic direction, defining quarterly milestones, and aligning research and engineering deliverables with business goals.

  • Led cross-functional research teams to develop and deploy AI-based remote sensing, image classification, and LLM frameworks supporting regenerative agriculture.
  • Designed advanced AI models for agronomic management practice verification to support regenerative agriculture business operations.
  • Deployed and scaled satellite imagery-based predictive pipelines in cloud environments to support high-throughput regenerative agriculture operations.
  • Managed the strategic roadmap and delivery of predictive modeling systems, enabling risk assessment tools for farmers and breeders.
  • Developed deep learning architectures for joint multi-disease prediction and crop yield forecasting to enable granular, probabilistic risk assessment.
  • Engineered scalable production pipelines to process geospatial/environmental data, train deep learning models, and serve disease and yield forecasts.
  • Translated complex statistical forecasts and uncertainty metrics into actionable business strategies for non-technical leadership through high-level presentations and reports.
  • Authored technical reports and built dashboards that translate performance metrics into intuitive insights and business value.
  • Implemented visualization pipelines to securely and reliably deliver predictive forecasts to business decision-makers.

I led agile teams delivering predictive models for crop diseases, defining scientific strategy and aligning research with commercial goals.

  • Developed and deployed a deep learning Gaussian process model for jointly forecasting multiple crop diseases.
  • Improved data collection efficiency by defining a data valuation strategy and hiring two contractors to execute on it.
  • Identified and addressed risks of collecting redundant data across programs.
  • Processed large-scale agricultural datasets for model training using Apache Spark for distributed computation.
  • Created in-season wheat disease forecasts using probabilistic deep learning models.
  • Improved crop yield models by creating deep learning embeddings of high-dimensional environmental data.
  • Mentored an intern to develop probabilistic deep learning models forecasting soybean yield over long lead times.
  • Identified crop nutrient deficiencies in soil by developing predictive statistical models using satellite imagery.

Reviewed grant proposals for the USDA's Data Science for Food and Agriculture Systems awards.

Skills

Research & Methodology
Research design Probabilistic forecasting Uncertainty quantification Deep learning Predictive modeling Bayesian inference Generative modeling Causal inference
People & Program Management
End-to-end research cycles Research analyst coordination Stakeholder management Grant / project evaluation Remote team leadership
Communication
Technical report writing Academic publishing Translating results for stakeholders UI/UX for decision-support tools
Tech Stack
Python PyTorch TensorFlow PyMC Scikit-Learn EconML R SQL Apache Spark Docker Node.js Bash Git QGIS
Cloud & Infrastructure
AWS GCP DigitalOcean CI/CD pipelines Docker

Service

Taimaka
May 2025 – Present · Volunteer

Reducing nonresponse and mortality rates of malnourished Nigerian children through predictive model development, deployment, and automation. Assisting with cost-effectiveness analyses.

UF ABE Advisory Board
Dec 2022 – Present · Advisor

Advising the University of Florida's Agricultural & Biological Engineering department on mission strategy and curricula to ensure successful graduate placement.

Projects

Education

PhD, Agricultural and Biological Engineering University of Florida
2014 – 2018
MStat, Statistics University of Florida
2012 – 2014
BS, Mathematics Mississippi State University
2008 – 2012