James Altland

 

James Altland, Ph.D.

Research Horticulturist

1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, Ohio 44691 

(330) 317-9142 

 

I am the Research Leader for the Application Technology Research Unit (ATRU).  This unit currently includes 10 scientists and their support staff.  We focus on agricultural spray technologies and all aspects of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) including entomology, plant pathology, irrigation and water quality, plant physiology, energy efficiency, and systems engineering. 

  

My specific interests are in the chemical, physical, and biological properties of container substrates and how they can be managed and modified for sustainable crop production.  Recent research has focused on chemical amendments to that reduce the amount of phosphorus (P) leached from containers.  Other research has explored novel physical components to replace expensive and non-sustainable substrate materials currently being used. A major emphasis of current research is to better understand the biological properties of container substrates by documenting how management practices affect the microbiome.  Using amplicon sequencing techniques, we observe the change in microbial communities over the production cycle of crops exposed to different management practices. 

 

James Altland Google Scholar

 

 

Research Experience

2002-2007            Assistant Professor, Oregon State University, Aurora, OR. 

2007-2011            GS-13, Research Horticulturist, USDA, ARS, Wooster, OH. 

2011-present        GS-14, Research Horticulturist, USDA, ARS, Wooster, OH. 

2017-present        GS-14, Acting Research Leader, USDA, ARS, Wooster, OH. 

 

 

Educational Background  

1991-1995            Penn State University; major, Landscape Contracting; minor, Horticulture B.S. 1995 

1997-1999            Auburn University; Horticulture, M.S. 1999.   

1999-2001            Auburn University; Probability Theory and Stat. Inf., M. Stat. 2001 

1999-2001            Auburn University; Horticulture, Ph.D. 2001.