Kansas State University

By Steve Watson and Brandi Herman

Several new faculty members have joined the Department of Agronomy since the fall of 2010. Each of them is working hard for you!

Eric Adee. Dr. Eric Adee is the new Agronomist-in-Charge at the East Central Kansas Experiment Field and Kansas River Valley Experiment Field. He grew up on a family farm near Minneapolis, Kansas and farmed until returning to college. He received his B.S. degree in Crop Protection in 1986 and M.S. degree in Plant Pathology at Kansas State University in 1988. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the University of Wisconsin.

After college Dr. Adee was superintendent at the University of Illinois’ Northwestern Illinois Agricultural Research and Demonstration Center for 16 years.  Dr. Adee’s research focus has been on improving profitability by integrating crop management practices across disciplines to improve plant health in dryland and irrigated cropping systems.

Ignacio Ciampitti. Dr. Ciampitti is the new state Cropping Systems and Crop Production Extension Specialist, based in Manhattan. Dr. Ciampitti received his Ph.D. and master’s degree in crop physiology and plant nutrition from Purdue University. His work is focused on biotic and abiotic stresses, and ways to generate higher yields and productivity in sustainable cropping systems. He believes that more precise and earlier in-season yield predictions can offer competitive advantages in the marketplace, and promote a rapid and less costly progress in breeding programs. Dr. Ciampitti has gotten off to a fast start by authoring several articles in K-State’s Agronomy eUpdate weekly electronic newsletter. Sorghum-related articles will be a priority for Dr. Ciampitti, along with corn and soybean information.

Gary L. Cramer. Dr. Cramer is the new Agronomist-in-Charge at the South Central Experiment Field in Hutchinson, Kansas. He came to the Experiment Field after spending eleven years as the Sedgwick County Extension agriculture agent. In addition to managing the 400-plus acre research field, Dr. Cramer will conduct dryland and irrigated research on sustainable cropping systems that maximize input efficiency, improve productivity, and provide a positive economic return.

Lucas Haag. Dr. Haag is the new Northwest Area Crops and Soils Specialist based at the Northwest Research-Extension Center in Colby. He grew up on a family farming and ranching operation near Lebanon, Nebraska. Dr. Haag received his B.S. from K-State’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, and M.S. from K-State’s Department of Agronomy. He was the Assistant Scientist at the Southwest Research-Extension Center at Tribune for 3 years before returning to K-State to complete his Ph.D. focusing on alternative planting geometries for dryland corn and grain sorghum. Dr. Haag’s past and continued efforts will focus on dryland and limited irrigation cropping systems, and precision agriculture.

Mithila Jugulam. Dr. Jugulam is the new Assistant Professor of weed physiology in the Department of Agronomy. A native to India, Dr. Jugulam received her Ph.D. in Weed Science from the University of Guelph, Ontario. She received her bachelor’s in agriculture from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University and her master’s from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, also in agriculture. She has both a teaching and research appointment. She teaches integrated weed management, herbicide interactions, and introduction to plant pest resistance. Her research focuses on the molecular, biochemical, and physiological mechanics of herbicide-resistant weeds. Before coming to K-State, Dr. Jugulam focused heavily on research, working for the University of Guelph as a research associate and a government scientist in India.

Xiaomao Lin. Dr. Lin is the new state agricultural climatologist, stationed in the Agronomy Department. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska. He was serving as a research scientist at UNL in the School of Natural Resources and senior scientist at LI-COR Biosciences before coming to K-State. As the state climatologist, Dr. Lin will be involved in gathering, organizing, and reporting agricultural climate data for Kansas. His current and future research will involve investigating the atmospheric mechanisms related to drought in western Kansas, interpreting extreme events from a climate perspective, and assessing the more general impacts and adaptations related to climate change in Kansas.

Doo-Hong Min. Dr. Min is the new Southwest Area Crops and Soils Specialist, based in Garden City. He comes to K-State from Michigan State University, where he was an Extension specialist focused on manure nutrient management in forage production, carbon sequestration in forage-based dairy systems, and legume-grass ecology for pasture. Dr. Min will be working on a broad range of forage production issues in his new position with K-State. Dr. Min has written several articles already for K-State’s Agronomy eUpdate newsletter.

Geoffrey Morris. Dr. Morris is the new sorghum geneticist, starting in November 2013. He was most recently research assistant professor at the University of South Carolina. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2007. His lab at K-State is focused on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) as a food and biomass crop, along with its wild and cultivated relatives (panicoid grasses).

• The primary focus will be:
  • To uncover the genomic basis of agroclimatic adaptation
  • Use genomic approaches for crop improvement
• Other area of interest include:
  • Genome-wide mapping of nutritional, yield, and agronomic traits
  • The genetic basis of crop diversification
  • Development and application of new genomic approaches

Augustine Obour. Dr. Obour is the new Soil Scientist at the K-State Agricultural Research Center-Hays. Dr. Obour was most recently Research Scientist, Department of plant Sciences at the University of Wyoming. He received his Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Florida in Soil and Water Science. His research has focused on forage management and production, evaluation of crop production systems for the changing climate, soil fertility management, and water quality issues in crop production systems.

Eduardo Santos. Dr. Santos is the  new Assistant Professor of AgroMicrometeorology for the Department of Agronomy. A native to Brazil, Dr. Santos received his Ph.D. in Land Resource Science from the University of Guelph in Canada. He received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in agronomy from the University of Sao Paulo and the Federal University of Espirito Santo respectively. Currently, he has both teaching and research appointment. His research is focused on air quality issues within cropping and animal production systems. Before coming to K-State, Dr. Santos taught at the Federal University of Vicosa in Brazil. He was also a research assistant for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation.

Gretchen F. Sassenrath. Dr. Sassenrath is the new Crops Agronomist at the Southeast Agricultural Research Center in Parsons. She came to K-State after 21 years as a Plant Physiologist/Research Agronomist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Mississippi, conducting research on plant physiology and cropping systems. Dr. Sassenrath will be working on developing alternative production methods to improve the productivity, economic return, and environmental sustainability of cropping systems and integrated crop and animal production of the Great Plains, with particular focus on Southeast Kansas.

Peter Tomlinson. Dr. Peter Tomlinson is the new Environmental Quality Specialist in the Department of Agronomy. He received his Ph.D. in Soil and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arkansas in 2011, where his main research project involved an in-depth study of different earthworm populations and agricultural management practices. His work at K-State will focus on climate-related outreach and research, water quality impairments and improvements, and soil quality protection. He has written several articles on earthworms for the weekly Agronomy eUpdate newsletter.

Guorong Zhang. Dr. Zhang is the new wheat breeder at the Agricultural Research Center in Hays. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. degree in plant breeding and genetics from North Dakota State University. He has years of breeding experience in wheat, barley, and soybean. Dr. Zhang is focusing on development of hard red/white winter wheat varieties with adaptation to semi-arid regions of Kansas. One hard red winter wheat variety, Oakley CL, has been released from his program since he joined K-State in 2012.