**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WATER IS CRITICAL TO AGRICULTURE, AND RICE FARMING IS ONE OF THE LARGEST CONSUMERS OF THIS NATURAL RESOURCE. TO ENHANCE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF RICE PRODUCTION IN THE U.S. AND GLOBALLY, IMPROVED VARIETIES THAT DEPEND ON LESS WATER ARE NEEDED. HOWEVER, BREEDING EFFORTS FOR THESE CONDITIONS ARE OFTEN COMPLICATED BY THE INFLUENCE OF GENOTYPE BY ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS, MEANING THAT VARIETIES THAT PERFORM WELL UNDER SOME SCENARIOS MAY UNDERACHIEVE IN OTHERS. NEW TOOLS THAT INCORPORATE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES COULD HELP GUIDE MORE ROBUST PREDICTIONS OF VARIETAL PERFORMANCE UNDER NOVEL ENVIRONMENTAL SCENARIOS, SUCH AS INTERMITTENT DROUGHT OR ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT SCHEMES THAT UTILIZE LESS WATER.TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE, OUR PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP NEW COMPUTER MODELS FOR PREDICTING RICE RESPONSES TO CHANGES IN SOIL MOISTURE USING A PROCESS-BASED FRAMEWORK. PROCESS-BASED APPROACHES EXPLICITLY ACCOUNT FOR NON-LINEAR INTERACTIONS, SUCH FEEDBACK AND FEEDFORWARD LOOPS. INOUR PROPOSED WORK, WE WILL ESTABLISH THE BASELINE VARIATION IN HYDRAULIC (WATER RELATIONS) TRAITS OF U.S. RICE COMPARED TO A GLOBAL PANEL, DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A PROCESS-BASED MODEL OF RICE GROWTH RESPONSE TO VARIOUS SOIL MOISTURE SCENARIOS, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBALLY-ENGAGED AGRICULTURAL PLANT SCIENTISTS. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL ADDITIONALLY HELP SERVE EFFORTS BY THE GREATER MODELING COMMUNITY TOWARDS PHYSIOLOGICALLY-REALISTIC PROCESS-BASED TOOLS THAT ARE SCALABLE FOR BREEDING APPLICATION. OUR MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL TEAM LEVERAGES FIELD EXPERTISE FROM NATIONAL (DALE BUMPERS) AND INTERNATIONAL (IRRI) RICE RESEARCH CENTERS, AND THE PROPOSED WORK INTEGRATES ACROSS GENETICS, PHYSIOLOGY AND MODELING TOWARDS MORE SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT RICE CROPPING SYSTEMS OF THE FUTURE.