THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES INFLUENCE THE SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE TO ANIMALS AND HUMANS. RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES NOW MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DEEPLY PROBE METAGENOMES AS A MEANS OF TRACKING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES (ARGS) AND MOBILE GENETIC ELEMENTS THAT FACILITATE THEIR PROLIFERATION (I.E., THE "RESISTOME") IN AGRO-ECOSYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR ACCESSIBLE COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS TO AID IN MEANINGFULLY INTERPRETING SUCH DATA, PARTICULARLY IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPORTANT META-DATA SUCH AS ANTIBIOTIC OCCURRENCE AND PERSISTENCE, PHYSICO-CHEMICAL FACTORS, AND ASSOCIATED MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. SUCH TOOLS ARE NEEDED TO INFORM SCIENCE-BASED REGULATION, POLICY, AND PRACTICE FOR LIMITING THE DISSEMINATION OF RESISTANCE TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND THROUGH THE FOOD CHAIN. THE AIM OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP WEB-BASED TOOLS INFORMED BY COMPUTATIONAL MODELS APPLIED TO OUR UNIQUE, COMPREHENSIVE ANTIBIOTIC, ARG, AND RESISTANT BACTERIA DATA SETS CORRESPONDING TO VARIOUS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES (E.G., RESTRICTED ANTIBIOTIC USE, MANURE TREATMENT, LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, AND CROP PRODUCTION). OUR NOVEL SYSTEMS APPROACH WILL INTEGRATE METAGENOMICS, STATE-OF-THE-ART ANTIBIOTIC ANALYSIS, AND POWERFUL COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING, TO COLLECTIVELY EVALUATE MULTIPLE CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS FOR MITIGATING ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE IN THE FOOD PRODUCTION ECOSYSTEM. EDUCATIONAL AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS WILL DISSEMINATE INFORMATION AND TOOLS TO RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING RESEARCHERS, VETERINARIANS, FARMERS, PRACTITIONERS, AND POLICY-MAKERS, THROUGH PUBLICATIONS, WEBINARS, TRAININGS, AND WORKSHOPS. WE WILL EXPAND OUR RECENTLY LAUNCHED AGSOAR TRAINING PROGRAM TO INCLUDE COMPUTATIONAL METHODOLOGIES AND COURSE MODULES FOR UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE AND VETERINARY STUDENTS. THE PROPOSAL ADDRESSES PRIORITY CODE A4171, EFFECTIVE MITIGATION STRATEGIES FOR ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE.