Retirement Archives - Department of Soil and Crop Sciences

Turfgrass expert clips last blades of grass for research purposes

21Sep

Dr. Richard White retires from Texas A&M
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu

Dr. Richard White intends to sit back and let the grass grow under his feet for a while after spending 29 years helping develop turf for Texas’ sometimes unforgiving conditions.

White retired from his positions as a professor in the Texas A&M University soil and crop sciences department and Texas A&M AgriLife Research turfgrass management scientist in College Station on Aug. 31.

Richard White

He came to Texas A&M after working as an assistant professor at Rutgers University-Cook College in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Auburn University and his doctorate from Virginia Tech.

White started as an assistant research scientist in 1989 at Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas and then moved to College Station in 1993 as an associate professor.

His teaching responsibilities included undergraduate courses and advising and directing graduate students.

crowd of people sitting at tables in large conference room

Family, friends and colleagues filled the Scotts Miracle-Gro Facility to celebrate Richard White’s retirement.

“Dr. White was instrumental in developing the turfgrass science major for the department and has served as a leader in advanced teaching techniques and assessment,” said Dr. David Baltensperger, head of the Texas A&M soil and crop sciences department.

In his research program, White worked on cycling composted cattle manure through turfgrass sod as a water quality conservation tool and conducted extensive research work on many new dwarf Bermuda grass cultivars. He also spent considerable time improving water management to enhance the performance of creeping bent grass in the southern U.S., as well as on many other issues associated with water management and conservation.

Dr. Richard White speaks to members of the USGA during a visit to the Texas A&M turfgrass research plots.

“My research program also contributed to applied programs in irrigation water management and conservation and results in the refinement of management strategies that reduce cultural inputs required to maintain turfgrass areas,” White said.

White co-developed four zoysia grasses, one bent grass, one perennial ryegrass and two annual ryegrass cultivars.

large group of people near lawn area with sprinklers running.

Dr. Richard White, Texas A&M AgriLife Research turfgrass scientist, discussed the new surface water runoff facility at a field day. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)

Some highlights of his career included:
– Being one of the first programs to conduct research on ultra-dwarf Bermuda grasses and directing a graduate student that discovered thermo-morphogenesis in dwarf Bermuda grasses.
– Working with several colleagues, the Texas Turfgrass Association and others to start the Texas Turfgrass Research, Education and Extension Endowment.
– Helping develop several turfgrass cultivars that are used extensively in the green industry, such as Palisades zoysia grass.
– Working with colleagues and a corporate partner to design and construct one of the world’s largest automated runoff facilities for water quality research.
– Serving on the Faculty and Student Advisory Board for the Center for Teaching Excellence.
– Helping a team develop a patented system to reduce landscape irrigation runoff.
– Providing assistance in the construction of Ellis Field, Olsen Field – now Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park, and more recently providing input on the Kyle Field redevelopment project.
– Receiving the Founders Award from the Turfgrass Producers of Texas in 2013.

“Dr. White has been a national leader for the turf industry, working across a broad range of industry, academic and agency partners to advance the role turfgrass can play in enhancing our environment,” Baltensperger said.

Perhaps White’s most enduring legacy will be his shepherding of the ScottsMiracle-Gro Facility for Lawn and Garden Research, located at 3100 F&B Road in College Station, through its 15-year journey to reality.

group of men by sign outside the new Scott'sMiracle-Gro Facility for Lawn and Garden Research.

Dr. Richard White led the 15-year effort to bring the new turfgrass facility to TAMU.

White coordinated the design and development of the facility to provide the needed infrastructure and facilities for the turfgrass program. He had already developed and constructed a state-of-the-art surface water runoff facility at the same location in collaboration with other soil and crop sciences personnel and the Scotts Company.

He is a member of the Crop Science Society of America, Sports Turf Managers Association and an advisor to the board of Texas Turfgrass Association.

He has been recognized with two Texas A&M University Vice-Chancellor’s Awards in Excellence, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Research Team Awards; the Texas Environmental Excellence Award for the Rio Grande Basin Initiative in the Agriculture category; and the Texas A&M University Soil and Crop Sciences Department Award for Teaching.

Internationally known soil specialist retires

24Jan

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Sam Feagley, 979-845-1460, s-feagley@tamu.edu

Students, soil fertility and nutrient management in Texas and beyond have been major parts of Dr. Sam Feagley’s life for many years, and all are areas where he hopes he has “made a difference.”

Dr. Sam Feagley, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state soil environmental specialist in College Station, retired Dec. 31. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

Feagley, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state soil environmental specialist in College Station, will walk away from his soil-testing equipment and his professor’s place at the front of the class when he retires Dec. 31 after more than 22 years at Texas A&M University.

He is known nationally and internationally for his research in nutrient management from organic and inorganic nutrient applications, land reclamation of surface-mined lands, saline/sodic soil remediation and revision of the Texas Phosphorus Index.

Feagley said his career has been a dream come true.

“Dr. Murray Milford taught basic soil science at Texas A&M and was the best professor I ever had,” he said. “I thought once during class, I want to be a teacher some day and if I can be almost as good as him, I’d be a success. And if I could come back to A&M, what a dream come true. I did finally make it back to the basic soil science classroom 32 years later.”

He joined the Texas A&M soil and crop sciences department in 1995. With nine soil scientists retiring from 1999 to 2011, Feagley eventually moved from 100 percent AgriLife Extension to 75 percent teaching and 25 percent AgriLife Extension, taking on teaching responsibilities for Soil Science, Reclamation of Drastically Altered Lands, and a study abroad class to Brazil, Brazilian Agriculture and Food Production Systems.

“Dr. Feagley has carried on a long tradition of excellence in our introductory soil science class,” said Dr. David Baltensperger, head of the Texas A&M department of soil and crop sciences in College Station.

Dr. Larry Redmon, soil and crop sciences associate department head and AgriLife Extension program leader in College Station, added, “Dr. Feagley is one of the most respected instructors in the department of soil and crop sciences.”

Feagley has taught more than 3,000 students over the years, and his connection with many continued after graduation. He was known for helping former students obtain a job with an environmental firm and/or helping them when working with state and federal guidelines, rules and regulations.

Dr. Feagley’s study abroad class, Brazilian Agriculture and Food Production Systems class, gave students a first hand look at agriculture in Brazil.

But the department leaders say it is Feagley’s contributions beyond the classroom that have earned him wide acclaim.

“Sam has provided exceptional leadership in facilitating science-based environmental regulations,” Baltensperger said. “His leadership in mine reclamation programs has been of tremendous value to the industry.”

And he has been the AgriLife Extension go-to resource regarding the environmental management of soils, Redmon said.

“I guess in working with environmental soil remediation over the years, the greatest satisfaction came when we were able to show regulators we were not recommending things that were biased, and they were accepting of our advice,” Feagley said. “We’ve been able to get some regulations changed. Those are where you look back and say ‘We made a difference.’”

Examples he gave from Louisiana included working with the rice industry to show many of their management practices were actually improving the water quality in the drainage water-receiving bayous, which helped ease some regulations being imposed on growers. Most producers accepted and implemented changes that improved the water quality.

He also worked with the lignite mining industry in Louisiana on their reclamation process using topsoil substitutes that actually improved productivity of the land better than native soils. This was shown by other researchers in Texas as well.

Dr. Sam Feagley speaking at the Surface Mine Reclamation workshop.

Dr. Sam Feagley coordinated a workshop focused on surface mine reclamation which is held annually in College Station. (photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)

“It’s changed the regulations and allowed the mining companies a little more flexibility as to how they reconstructed their topsoil,” Feagley said.

Also in Louisiana, he said they demonstrated that a declining swamp could be used for the tertiary treatment of municipal effluent and actually increase the productivity of the swamp and renew it at the same time as the remediation of nutrients from the effluent.

When he moved to Texas and began working with the lignite mining industry here, Feagley said they created a workshop to train science teachers about the chemistry of the soils, the overburden and how the environment is put back together after a tremendous disturbance.

“It’s very difficult to tell what has been mined and what hasn’t been mined, and seeing that light bulb go off when the teachers are viewing the land is always rewarding,” he said.

But Feagley said he probably spent the most time looking at phosphorus in applied manures from the animal feeding industry and revising the Texas Phosphorus Index for adding nutrients to the soil.

“Through that research, both the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have accepted our methods of analysis and recommendations for phosphorus,” he said.

“Before our research, there were three different methods of extraction and two methods of analysis for phosphorus. We were able to change that to one extraction and method of analysis, taking a lot of the variability out of the analysis TCEQ was seeing on the permitted fields.”

Feagley said he also worked with NRCS to develop a course to certify Texas nutrient management specialists. The Environmental Protection Agency and USDA in 1999 required each state to develop certification for specialists for animal feeding operations.

“We in the Texas A&M soil and crop sciences department got together with NRCS personnel and worked on soil fertility, testing, and rules and regulations,” he said. “We developed a 20-hour course, which is still being taught. Texas was the first state to implement the course and several others patterned their state programs after ours.”

Feagley authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has taught almost 15,000 people over the years through his AgriLife Extension county, Master Gardener and Master Naturalist programming.

Dr. Feagley visits with participants at the 2016 Soil Survey and Land Resources Workshop. (Photo by Beth Ann Luedeker)

He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas A&M and his doctorate from the University of Missouri. From there he went to Louisiana State University where he had a teaching and research position for 16 years.

While there, he was instrumental in the request for and development of the college level curricula, Environmental Management Systems or EMS, and became the adviser for these students. EMS was designed to focus students on soil, water or air environmental areas. The soil and water areas had more science and lab hours than the basic science degrees at LSU. When he left LSU, he was advising over 200 students in EMS.

Feagley has been awarded numerous teaching awards from LSU and Texas A&M. At LSU he received the Outstanding Professor in Agronomy, Agriculture Students Association Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in the College of Agriculture, Joe E. Sedberry Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in the College of Agriculture, and Student Government Outstanding Teacher in the College of Agriculture.

At Texas A&M, he received the Texas A&M AgriLife Vice Chancellor’s Award of Excellence-Teaching, the Special Achievement Award for Teaching in Soil and Crop Sciences, Outstanding Teacher in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gamma Sigma Delta and Honor Professor Award in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

He is involved in several national societies, and has received the Soil Science Society of America Council of Soil Science Examiners Outstanding Service Award and Irrometer Professional Certification Service Award. Through the American Society of Agronomy, he received the Fellow Award and Agronomy Resident Teaching Award.

Feagley said he looks forward to spending more time with his family, doing some consulting and finally tackling his wife’s “honey-do” list.

Dr. Travis Miller retires after 38 years with AgriLife Extension

20Sep

Written by: Kay Ledbetter

Dr. Travis Miller

With crops in the ground 365 days a year in more than 150 counties in Texas, Dr. Travis Miller has worn through a lot of shoe leather during his 38 years with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Now he’s giving those shoes a break.

Miller may have carried the title of interim associate director for state operations with the AgriLife Extension most recently, but he is much better known for the 20-plus years spent as the state small grains and oilseeds specialist for the agency.

Miller joined AgriLife Extension in 1979 as an area agronomist based in Weslaco. His responsibilities included field trials and educational programming, primarily in cotton, corn, sorghum and soybeans.

“The Rio Grande Valley was a really great place to learn,” he said. “There are crops in the ground all year long. It’s like being in a candy store if you are an agronomist; you pick up on a lot of issues in multiple crops.”

But not all crops.

In 1982, when Miller moved to College Station to take the position as AgriLife Extension state specialist for small grains and oilseeds, he had never been in a wheat field.

Raised in the Corpus Christi area, he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural mechanization from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, and master’s and doctoral degrees in soil science from Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

“But I had the basic fundamentals of agronomy, and we had some good folks around to learn from,” Miller said. “There’s nothing like shoe leather too, getting out there and being amongst it.”

And that’s what he did, attending as many as 20 field days and another 30-40 producer meetings across the state every year.

Dr. Travis Miller addresses a field day early in his career. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

“When I took over the job, my predecessor had largely worked in rice, and I saw there was a huge void in wheat and other winter cereals,” he said. “We had a lot of researchers and faculty working in small grains, but a much lesser AgriLife Extension effort, so I decided I needed to do something about that.”

Previously soybeans just hadn’t worked, but “we figured out how to use the early maturing, early planted soybeans effectively. And while it is still not like Iowa, people know how to grow soybeans and do it well now.”

As for wheat, one of the biggest successes was getting uniform variety trials put out at various locations across the state, Miller said. Before his organized effort, the trials were limited to county agents getting bags of seed and planting them.

“We worked on getting data we could use to help producers make decisions based on these uniform trials,” he said.

Another crisis faced during the late 1990s and early 2000s was a lot of drought. Serving with the Texas Drought Preparedness Council, Miller said he spent a lot of time trying to inform people, particularly the public – the farmers already knew it was dry, what the issues were related to drought and the water supply and how it affected them.

Miller said his goal all those years was to get out among producers to know what was important to them and to create programs that made a difference to them – anything from variety trials to fungicide and weed control to soil fertility.

Miller said recruiting and hiring some very bright, capable young scientists was a significant achievement during his time as an associate head, which he left in June 2014 to serve in his current position the last three years.

Looking forward, he said no doubt these scientists and others will have to deal with the greatest issue in agriculture – water.

“You can’t help but believe we are going to see a transition toward dryland and much more efficient cropping systems that use less water and are more tolerant to stress,” he said. “I can’t think of any more critical issue than our water supply and the careful stewardship of the supply we do have.”

Miller won’t get completely away from helping address those challenges. He said with he and his wife in reasonably good health, they are ready to do some traveling and spend some time with grandkids. But he will hold an emeritus title and still have an office on campus in the soil and crop sciences department, so he will stay connected.

Dr. Paul Baumann’s Retirement

17Aug

Please join us

at the Wellborn Community Center

Saturday, September 10, 2016 – 6:30 pm
as we reminisce and give Paul a proper Roasting!

RSVP by September 6, 2016

Click here to purchase TICKETS

If you’d like to write a check towards the gift, please make it payable to Debbie Sutherland at:
Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, 2474 TAMU, 370 Olsen Blvd., College Station, TX 77843

We are collecting letters to put in a book for Paul. You may send them to the above address.

Questions: contact Debbie Sutherland – 979.845.4808 or dsutherland@tamu.edu

Dr. Frank Hons Retires after 44-year career

1Mar

Nearly 100 people gathered at the Pebble Creek Country Club in College Station February 26 to celebrate the long and prosperous career of Dr. Frank Hons.

Current and former colleagues, family and friends were in attendance. Many shared stories and memories of Dr. Hons.

All but three years of Dr. Hons 44-year career were spent here at Texas A&M University, beginning in 1972 when he was a graduate research assistant working on his Master’s degree in soil chemistry.

After earning his PhD in Soil Science, Dr. Hons went to Texas Tech for three years before returning to A&M as an assistant professor in the Soil and Crop Sciences Department in 1981. He became an Associate Professor in 1986 and a full professor in 1991.

Throughout his career, Dr. Hons taught at least one semester of Soil Fertility and Fertilizers every year, reaching more than 1,800 students. He was on the advisory committee for more than fifty graduate students, and was the major professor for forty-two who have gone on to distinguished careers.

He served as a faculty advisor to the TAMU student agronomy society and as an instructor at the NRCS designed the post –graduate curriculum for the Bi-national Fulbright Program in Egypt and was a commissioned lecturer at the Assiut University there for several years.

Dr. Hons research has had a tremendous impact. He was part of a team that developed an integrated production system to generate methane from sorghum with a potential annual benefit to producers of $1 billion. His research on carbon sequestration lead to a greater understanding of the long term effects of management practices on crop yields and soil quality, which enhanced adoption of conservation tillage practices. He led a team that developed and assisted in the implementation of a plan to revegetate the USEPA’s largest Superfund site. His long term cropping system experiments in College Station have been in place for over 33 years and continue to provide valuable information about yield, long term sustainability, and the interactive effects of tillage, crop rotation and nitrogen fertilization.

He has been named as a Fellow for the American Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America. In 2005 he was the recipient of a TAES Faculty Fellow award. He was named as an Outstanding Young Man of America in 1979 and went on to earn numerous other awards including the Soil and Crop Sciences Superior Achievement Award for Teaching, TAES Award in Excellence for Team Research; and the American Society of Agronomy Agronomic Resident Education Award.

His teaching and research will continue to have an impact in the world of soil science for many years to come.