People

Jagmandeep Dhillon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Mississippi State University. His current research focuses on corn agronomics with topics encompassing precision nutrient management, optimization of corn management practices, and understanding the impact of climate change on southern crop production. He received his Ph.D. in Soil Science and M.S. in Plant and Soil Sciences from Oklahoma State University in 2019 and 2016, respectively.

Dr. Patrick Brown is the Professor of Plant Nutrition at the University of California, Davis – USA. He received his B.Sc. in 1984 from Adelaide University, Australia and Ph.D. from Cornell University, USA in 1988.  Dr. Brown has authored more than 250 scientific journal articles and numerous books and is among the highest cited experts in plant nutrition, biostimulants, boron, foliar fertilizers and horticulture. Dr. Brown is recognized globally as a leader in both basic and applied plant nutrition and has served as a member of numerous scientific and technical committees for governmental agencies including US-EPA, USDA, Californian Dept. Food and Ag and the International Standards Organization. Dr. Brown is a member of the IFA’s Science Panel for the Responsible Use of Fertilizers.

Dr. Brown has received many awards national and international for excellence in research and extension.

I completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Land and Agroforestry Science and my Master’s Degree in Vegetable Biotechnology and Crop Production at the University of Bologna (Italy). I am now a PhD candidate in Patrick H Brown’s lab at the University of California Davis, focusing on K dynamics in the almond system.

Andrew Margenot is a soil scientist and biogeochemist who joined the faculty at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2017, where he is currently Associate Professor. Dr. Margenot leads a research team that combines soil science and agronomy to understand the biogeochemical processes that underpin agroecosystem function. A key emphasis of his research group is optimizing nutrient use efficiency for agronomic and environmental sustainability of agriculture. 

Singh’s faculty appointment includes research and Extension responsibilities in applied soil science-agroecology and landscape position management. He serves as State Extension Specialist for landscape position management. His research is focused on spatial/temporal modeling of nutrient dynamics in the plant, soil, water, and gaseous phases ranging from plot scale to watershed scale. His program includes developing prescription models for landscape position-based research. His research also involves understanding the effects of management practices such as cover crops, tillage, and topography on crop yields, soil and water quality in row crop production systems. At the Northern Missouri Research, Extension and Education Center, his program emphasizes nutrient management for sustainable crop production that reduces the environmental effects of farming practices at the field and farm scale.

Dr. Mike Daniels has served as a Soil and Water Conservation Specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service for the past twenty-seven years.  During this time, Dr. Daniels has developed and implemented innovative Extension programs as well as conducted applied research to help agricultural producers and conservation professionals address soil- and water-related issues facing Arkansas agriculture.  His program has emphasized the development of partners to work collectively to increase the knowledge and application of soil and water conservation practices to improve water quality, soil health, increase irrigation water use efficiency and reduce nutrient losses in runoff.

He is Director of the Arkansas Discovery Farms program where the impact of agricultural practices on water resources are documented on private farms and agricultural producers are included in the solution process in resolving water-related issues.  He also co-leads the Arkansas Soil Health Extension Team and served as Chair of SERA-46, a workgroup of land-grant universities from 13 States in the Mississippi river basin that works with the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force.  He has held several leadership positions with state, regional and national professional organizations. 

He has been married to Tricia for almost 36 years has three grown sons and a grandson, Canyon.  He enjoys trout fishing, Razorback sports and visiting state and national parks.

Dr. Lindsay Pease is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is stationed at the Northwest Research & Outreach Center in the heart of the Red River Basin of the North. Prior to coming to Minnesota in 2018, Dr. Pease evaluated the water quality outcomes of agricultural best management practices in Ohio’s Western Lake Erie Basin watershed with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and with The Ohio State University where she earned her Ph.D. Dr. Pease’s research and outreach programming is focused on balancing agricultural productivity with environmental stewardship. She is currently working to adapt the lessons learned from the Western Lake Erie Basin to the Red River Basin’s unique cropping systems and climate.

Dr. Jared D. Williams is a professor of crop and soil science at Brigham Young University-Idaho where he teaches courses and conducts research in soil and nutrient management. Jared is a two time U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Cambodia where he has taught classes and conducted research in soil health at the Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He as a Ph.D. in soil science from North Carolina State University, M.S. in agronomy from the University of Missouri, and a B.S. in crop and soil science from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Alison Eagle works as a Senior Scientist for the Climate-Smart Agriculture team at Environmental Defense Fund. She conducts research and provides scientific support on issues related to field-crop nutrient management, soil carbon and other aspects of agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation and climate resilience. Dr. Eagle’s research translates agronomic, soil science and economic data to help decision makers access sound scientific evidence. Recent publications include syntheses and meta-analyses on nitrous oxide and nitrate losses and address issues of on-farm nitrogen management, research data standardization, and metrics for quantifying environmental outcomes from agricultural management interventions. Before joining EDF more than seven years ago, Dr. Eagle worked as a research scientist at Duke University. She holds a PhD from Wageningen University (2009), a MS from the  University of California–Davis (2000) and a BSc from the University of Alberta (1997).

Dan Olk is a soil biochemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and works at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa. He is a Ph.D. graduate (1993) of the University of California, Davis and worked for eight years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines before his employment with the USDA-ARS (2001-present). Since 2009 Dr. Olk has conducted field evaluations of humic products in corn─soybean rotations of the U.S. Midwest, studying the efficacy of humic products for improving crop growth as influenced by environmental variables, including annual weather patterns and soil type.  Field research has also addressed responses by corn structural biochemistry and root growth to humic products, and more recently has studied long-term benefits to soil physical properties.