Specialty：Crop Physiology & Production

Oversees the research and management of 4.2 Faculty, 13.0 Research Scientists, and 55 research/support staff with annual budgets of 1.0 million in appropriated and 4.0 million in contract dollars. Research programs center on improving knowledge of agriculture and natural resource systems and the development and application of agricultural/natural resource system models and computer decision aids to determine the impact/benefit/consequences of land/crop management on the environment and on agricultural and economic productivity.   Personal research interest focuses on improving knowledge of biological and environmental constraints to irrigated and rainfed farming systems, with particular emphasis on developing superior management practices to enhance yield and production efficiency  of the through the use of field scale research and the development and application of computer simulation analysis. Research include: the development user interfaces for farming system/agricultural ecosystem models (EPIC and APEX) for on-farm analyses of production and risks; coordination of the USDA-NRCS National Cropland Assessment for the USDA-Conservation Effects Assessment Project.