| 2019 AgSciences Seminar Series |
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The 2019 Agricultural Sciences (AgSciences) Seminar Series at Cropping Systems Research Laboratory (CSRL), USDA, ARS Lubbock.
The AgSciences Seminar series was established through joint leaderships of Dr. Robert Lascano, Research Leader, Wind Erosion & Water Conservation (WEWC) Unit; Dr. Paxton Payton, Research Leader, Plant Stress & Germplasm Development (PSGD) Unit; with assistance from Dr. Gloria Burow, Research Geneticist, PSGD Unit, for the Cropping Systems Research Laboratory, USDA, ARS and strong support from Dr. David Brauer, Acting Laboratory Director of CSRL. The seminar series aims to : (1) provide a forum for exchange of ideas and knowledge on various projects here at CSRL, USDA, ARS and within the Lubbock Agricultural research communities; (2) directly engage stakeholders on technological and agricultural developments from research activities by ARS scientists and University partners; (3) facilitate engagement and increase motivation of ARS staff through advancement of scientific knowledge and new technologies and (4) enhance the visibility of CSRL to the whole agricultural sector in the Lubbock area and vicinity.
2019 AgSciences Seminar Series
The 2019 AgSciences Seminar series have engaged eminent speakers from various agricultural fields/research areas ranging from crop physiology, plant genetics and breeding, crop genomics, hydrology, soil science, cropping systems, systems modelling, and animal science. Attendees draw from ARS staff, Texas Tech University, Texas A& M University and various agricultural commodity groups and interested parties.
If you are interested in attending the AgSciences Seminar and would like to receive announcements please click on our sign-up sheet
November 8, 9:00 am
Dr. Luis Estrella-Herrera
President’s Professor of Plant Genomics
Director, Center for Functional Genomics of Abiotic Stress
Plant And Soil Science Department, Texas Tech University
“Regulatory networks controlling seed desiccation tolerance and root responses to low phosphate availability”
Dr. Luis Herrera-Estrella, a Mexican pioneer and leading expert on genetic engineering has made important contributions to the field of plant molecular biology, especially in the study of gene regulation and in the development of gene transfer methods into plant cells. While still working as a Ph. D. student he published the first report showing the successful transfer and expression of a bacterial gene in plant cells. He pioneered the development of dominant selectable markers and the use of reporter genes for plant systems and directed the work to demonstrate the use of transit peptide sequences to introduced foreign proteins into plant organelles. More recently, he works on understanding the molecular networks that regulate the acquisition of desiccation tolerance in seeds and the root developmental responses to low phosphate availability, as well as the sequencing and characterization of the genome of plants native to Mexico such as chili pepper and avocado.
Dr. Herrera-Estrella has published over 160 research papers in peered-reviewed international journals and has graduated 33 PhD students. Throughout his career, he has been awarded several national prizes for his outstanding scientific contributions including, biology award from the Mexican Academy of Sciences, the Minuro& Ethel TsutsuiDistinguished Graduate Research Award of the New York Academy of Sciences, the JavedHusain prize for young scientists from UNESCO and the Gold Medal from the World Intellectual Property Organization as one of the most distinguished inventors in Latin America. Dr. Herrera-Estrella was elected in 2003 as a foreign member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
November 1, 2019 10:00 am
"Impact of Land Atmosphere Interactions on the Atmospheric Boundary Layer Dynamics under Diverse Meteorological Conditions"
Dr. Sandip Pal
Dept. of GeoSciences
Texas Tech University
Dr. Sandip Pal is an atmospheric scientist. He earned his Ph.D. (magna cum laude) in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in Feb 2009. His dissertation involved the development and application of an eye safe mobile scanning aerosol lidar system for studying atmospheric boundary layer and aerosol transport mechanisms in the lower troposphere. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Hohenheim, after completing his dissertation. Between 2010 and 2012, Dr. Pal worked in two French Laboratories (Laboratoiredes Sciences du Climatet de l'Environnement(LSCE) and LMD-Ecole Polytechnique) in Paris, France. Between February 2013 and August 2015, he was a Research Associate at the University of Virginia,& later affiliated as an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at The Pennsylvania State University and worked on a NASA-funded project.
Currently, Dr. Pal is an Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Dept. of Geosciences-Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas and leads the Boundary Layer Meteorology group.Dr. Pal is the author and coauthor of more than 34 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous conference and symposium proceedings and technical and scientific reports.
October 18, 2019
“Genomic and epigenomic bases of transgressive segregation: Using an old science to create novel adaptive phenotypes in rice”
Professor of Genetics and Bayer Crop Science Endowed Chair,
Dept. of Plant & Soil Sciences, Texas Tech Univ
Dr. Benildo G. de los Reyes is currently a Professor of Genetics and Bayer Crop Science Endowed Chair in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University. He also currently serves as Associate Department Chair for Research and Graduate Programs Director for Plant and Soil Science. Prior to joining the faculty of Texas Tech, he held the rank of Professor of Molecular Genetics in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine, where he also served as Associate Director. His accomplishments in research span three decades of paradigm shifts and genome/epigenome-enabled investigations of physiological, developmental and evolutionary processes relevant to the mechanisms of how plants adapt to their environment. His research has been supported by major grants from both federal and international programs including the NSF, USDA-NRI, USDA-AFRI, USDA-FAS, Korea Research Foundation, and the National Institute of Genetics of Japan. His stature as an authority in plant stress physiological genomics has also brought him to serve in a number of prestigious grant and technical advisory panels at the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and several other grant programs in Korea, Japan, Israel, and France. He currently serves as associate editor of the journal RICE by Springer-Nature, and member of the Editorial Board of Nature Scientific Reports. He has been teaching courses on genetics, epigenetics and molecular and cellular biology since 2001.
July 30, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm
“Development of the Sorghum Research Project in PSGD—A Spirit of Collaboration”
Molecular Biologist
PSGD Unit, CSRL USDA-ARS
Lubbock, TX
Dr. Zhanguo Xin, is a Research Molecular Biologist in the Plant Stress & Germplasm Development Unit, USDA-ARS at Lubbock, Texas. He earned his B.S. degree from China Agriculture University in 1982, M.S. from Kansas State University in 1985, and Ph.D. from University of Minnesota in 1993. After a brief employment in CereonGenomics, a subsidiary of Monsanto, he joined USDA-ARS in 2001. Since 2003, he has been the Lead scientist to develop the sorghum research project from ground zero. During the last 16 years, the sorghum research in USDA-ARS at Lubbock, Texas has become a nationally and internationally recognized research program. In collaboration within and outside the research unit, he has established a pedigreed sorghum mutant library, sequenced a subset of 256 lines for reverse genetic studies, and developed a MutMappipeline for forward genetic studies to identify causal gene mutations underlying traits of significant agronomic value. These resources have been frequently requested and used from scientists of private industries and public institutes in the US and abroad. Dr. Xin is a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.
July 16, 2019 10:00 AM
“Hybrid Sorghum Development & Production”
Dr. Larry Lambright
Chairman
National Sorghum Foundation
Crop Improvement Advisor
US Sorghum Checkoff Program
Larry Lambright's participation in plant breeding and product development spans more than 40 years of commercial experience with the development and release of more than 100 improved sorghum hybrids into U.S. and international markets. New products provided not only increased yield potential, but also improved defensive traits with special emphasis on stalk quality, drought tolerance, disease, and insect resistance. Many of these improvements came as a result of the introgression of key traits from exotic accessions sourced from the sorghum collection. As North American Sorghum Breeding Lead at Monsanto, Larry managed all US sorghum breeding programs, parentseed projects and production research efforts. Additional responsibilities with DEKALB brand included Sorghum Seedstock Manager 1996 - 1998. He retired from Monsanto in 2004 after 35 years supporting DEKALB brand sorghums. Afterwards, he carried on as consultant for companies interested in utilizing purpose grown sorghum for bio-energy. In 2010, Larry joined Chromatin Inc., serving as Director of Breeding. He retired from Chromatin in June 2016 and currently serves as Chairman of the National Sorghum Foundation as well as research advisor for both the National Sorghum Producers and United Sorghum Check-off Program. He also serves on advisory boards for both the Collaborative Sorghum Investment Program at Kansas State University & with the Dept. of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University.
June 20, 2019 11:00 AM
‘Novel Circular Concept of Buffer Strips of Native Perennial Grasses (CBS) to Add Ecosystem Services to Irrigated Agriculture’
Professor (Crop Stress Physiology)
Clovis, New Mexico
Dr. Sangu Angadi is a Professor of Crop Stress Physiology at New Mexico State University, Clovis, NM, USA. Dr. Angadi obtained his Ph.D. from University of Manitoba, Canada, and his Bachelor and Master’s degrees are from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. He has more than 25 years of agriculture research experience in Canada and US, most of it is in semiarid regions, where water is the most yield limiting factor. He is the recipient of 2018 Mobley Family Endowed Research Award, ACES at NMSU. His research focuses on soil and water conservation and abiotic stress management of alternative crops and cropping systems. He is also working on novel concepts like Circular Buffer Strips to improve water cycle of irrigated agriculture and improve many ecosystem services in the U.S. Great Plains. Using multiple approaches, he is improving water efficiency of agriculture to achieve ‘More Crop Per Drop’. Using simple water cycle, his research focuses on improving storage of rainfall in the soil profile, utilizing most of the stored water in crop production and reducing water losses from the system. His crop diversification efforts are looking for less water requiring, deeper rooted, lower input requiring alternative crops, which offer many rotational benefits and improve climate-resiliency.
June 4, 2018 10:00 AM
James P. Bordovsky
Senior Research Scientist & Agricultural Engineer
Texas A&M AgriLife Research
823 W. US Hwy 70
Plainview, TX 79072
806 889 3315
Education
M.S., Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1978
B.S., Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1976
Experience
Senior Research Scientist and Agricultural Engineer, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University. (2009-Present)
Research Scientist, TAES, Texas A&M University. (1998-2009)
Agricultural Engineer & Associate Research Scientist, TAES, Texas A&M University. (1990-1998)
Research Agricultural Engineer, TAES, Texas A&M University. (1978-1990)
Research Assistant, Texas A&M University. (1976-78)
Civil Engineer, Soil Conservation Service, Waco, TX (1976-1978)
Interests
Developing tools and management systems that assist in the transition from irrigated to dryland agriculture.
Projects include:
- Cotton crop rotations with alternative crops using very limited irrigation to leverage rainfall
- Evaluating systems to reduce the cost of subsurface drip irrigation by management and design
- Irrigation timing with limited water to improve water resource productivity
- Field-scale, multi-discipline cropping system evaluations involving irrigation levels, tillage and rotations
Our primary irrigation water source is the Ogallala aquafer which is not confined to the Southern High Plains of Texas. Solutions to current and future water challenges have to be addressed from a regional perspective.
Recent Awards
Texas A&M University System Vice Chancellor's Award in Excellence, Team Collaboration, 2015
Irrigation Association’s National Water & Energy Conservation Award. Presented to USDA-NIFA Multistate Project W-3128 Team, 2017
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineer's Mayfield Cotton Engineering Award, 2018
West Texas Agricultural Chemical Institute Innovator Award, 2018
21 May 2019, 10:00 am
"Transitioning agricultural production practices for a declining aquifer."
Soil Scientist
Conservation and Production Research Lab
USDA-ARS
Bushland, TX
Louis Baumhardt joined the USDA-ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, TX in 1997 as a Soil Scientist after working for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Lubbock for 12 years. He earned Agronomy degrees from Texas A&M University (B.S.), Texas Tech University (M.S.), and Mississippi State University (Ph.D.). Dr. Baumhardt began his career in Mississippi when quantifying rain formed soil surface seals plus the dependent infiltration processes and continues field investigations of rain infiltration in ongoing soil and water conservation research. His current research focuses on soil and water conservation primarily in dryland crop production with occasional investigations on deficit irrigation that involve both field plot and computer crop growth simulation approaches. This work has produced journal articles, book chapters, and technical papers on a wide range of topics including: rain infiltration and water conservation, dryland crop rotations, integrated crop-livestock systems, crop response to El Niño southern oscillation climate conditions, and even managing de-acclimation of grapevines. Louis served on various editorial boards, ASA/SSSA committees, and Presiding Leader of ASA communities addressing “Crop Irrigation Strategies & Management” (inaugural) and the “Semi-arid Dryland Cropping Systems” (beginning 2020).
April 23, 10:00-11:00
Soil water sensing, event-based soil water balance, and crop ET estimation
Soil Scientist
USDA, ARS
Conservation and Production Research Lab
Bushland, TX
Please Click Here to view the recorded seminar.
Dr. Schwartz has authored or coauthored 70+ refereed journal articles covering a range of topics related to soil and environmental physics and soil and water management in dryland and irrigated agricultural field crops. He is recognized for his expertise in soil water sensor technology, measurement and interpretation of soil water contents and the use of inverse methods to estimate transport and hydraulic parameters in soils. He has collaborated with industry and international partners to develop and evaluate improved soil water sensors useful in irrigation management. More recently Dr. Schwartz has focused effort in evaluating and parameterizing soil water depletion and associated crop water stress in collaboration with U.S. and Spanish scientists. The focus of his Ph.D. work at Texas A&M University was reactive transport in dual-permeability media. He is a native of northern Illinois and has worked for extended periods in the Dominican Republic, North Dakota, and Costa Rica.
March 29, 11:00 - 12:00
"Implications of High Plains groundwater policies on agricultural practices and groundwater withdrawls."
Acting Laboratory Director, CSRL, Lubbock TX.
Laboratory Director, CPRL, Bushland TX.
USDA–ARS
Please Click Here to view the recorded seminar.
Dr. David Brauer is currently the Acting Laboratory Director of the Conservation and Production Research Laboratory and Cropping Systems Research Laboratory since August 2015 and November 2016, respectively. Dr. Brauer is a graduate of the University of Delaware (BS and MS) and the University of Kentucky (Ph.D). Immediately after graduating, Dr. Brauer had a NSF post-doctoral fellowship in the College of Medicine at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. His career with ARS began in 1986 at the Eastern Regional Research Center. Since then his career has taken him to locations in Beckley, WV, Booneville AR, Bushland TX and Lubbock, TX. Since 2008, he has been the manager of the Ogallala Aquifer Program, a regional water conservation research-education consortium that has been recognized numerous times for its impacts and accomplishments.
March 22, 11:00 - 12:00
"Managing to Climatology: Optimizing management and genetics to Southern High Plains summer climate conditions."
Meteorologist
Wind Erosion and Water Conservation
CSRL
USDA–ARS
Dr. Mauget is a GS-13 Research Climatologist that has worked as either a post-doctoral researcher or a Research Climatologist with the ARS since 1997. His educational background is in Physics (B.S., U.C. Santa Cruz) and Atmospheric Science (M.S., Ph.D., U.C. Davis) and has focused two major areas of research. The first focused on exploring how weather and climate information can be used in agricultural management. This began with research that studied the effect of the ENSO mechanism on U.S. agriculture through the analysis of historical U.S. precipitation, temperature, and grain production data. Subsequent work estimated the value of winter and summer precipitation forecasts over the Southern Great Plains and how that forecast information can be used in agricultural management. This research also included the development of Windows and web-based agro-climate applications that provide end-users with statistical climate data over specified growing areas and specified time windows of the growing season. The second area of research studied the effects of low frequency climate variability using a time series analysis procedure that he developed - the Optimal Ranking Regime (ORR) method. This has included the analysis of historical temperature, precipitation, and streamflow data to test for evidence of intra- to multi–decadal climate variation and climate–change over U.S. South American, and global land areas. More recent work has used the ORR method to evaluate records of reconstructed streamflow over the western U.S. during 1500-2007.
Previous CSRL AgSciences Seminar Series:
