The inaugural workshop of the BuckAI Observatory was held on May 13, 2026 in Mendenhall Laboratory 291 (School of Earth Sciences). The all-day event convened 20 faculty plus students from 10 graduate programs across the College of Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and the School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Goals. The workshop combined three aims: (1) a meet-and-greet to begin building an OSU-wide community of faculty who use AI — or are curious about using AI — in their research, particularly those working with similar data and methods; (2) soliciting input on what this community needs and where the BuckAI Observatory can help accelerate research; and (3) seeding interdisciplinary teams positioned to compete in an increasingly challenging federal funding environment.

Format. Sixteen short morning and early-afternoon talks were followed by free-flowing afternoon discussions on (i) storage and computational needs, (ii) funding opportunities and team-building, and (iii) training and educational priorities.

Presenters (in agenda order):

• Joachim Moortgat — School of Earth Sciences (opening remarks)
• Yuan-Sen Ting — Astronomy
• Ian Howat — School of Earth Sciences
• Steven Quiring — Geography
• Man-Yau (Joseph) Chan — Geography
• Marta Jarzyna — EEOB
• Ann Cook & Lawal Muhedeen — School of Earth Sciences
• Demian Gomez — Geodesy
• Frank Schwartz — School of Earth Sciences
• Hari Subramoni — Computer Science and Engineering
• Bryan Carstens — EEOB
• Ben Bolduc — Microbiology
• Paige Bollen — Political Science
• Alex Michaud — School of Earth Sciences
• Kay Zhao — SENR
• Oksana Chkrebtii — Statistics