Educational Background

BS degree in Agrarian Studies from the University of California in 1980, where I later earned an MS in Agronomy, and in 1991 a PhD in Soil Science.

 

Skills and Expertise:

No-till cropping practices, Controlling Water Infiltration, Seed Germination in Soil

 

Focus of Soil Ecology Program: 

Ecology is the study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment. The Soil Ecology effort at the USDA-ARS Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center near Pendleton, Oregon is focused on the soil environment created in our non-irrigated wheat production systems. Tillage has a major effect on soil organisms, heat and water flow, and the position and types of organic matter accumulated in soil. Our soil ecology program has studied the germination of wheat seed, the influences of tillage and no-till cropping practices on water infiltration and earthworm populations, and the effects of different tillage practices on evaporation of water from fallow fields during the summer.

See the Soil Ecology page for more information about current research projects.

 

Current Research Projects:

Research is funded under the USDA-ARS NP 212