Singh, Asheesh

Description of our team: We are a breeding, discovery, and tool-development-driven group interested in using transcending approaches and research activities to prepare and promote the next generation of competent and creative people who will work in inter- and trans-disciplinary teams to conduct critical research and establish effective breeding and research programs.

Our Mission: Educate the next generation of breeders in agriculture, engineering, and data science to develop tools and technologies that advance plant sciences and empower farmers to increase profitability and environmental sustainability.

Our Research Goals: To improve agricultural production and positively impact farmers and the agriculture industry by developing new products (cultivars, germplasm, methods, tools), gene discovery, and research insights.

Publications details – through Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lzTBffEAAAAJ&hl=en

About me: My professional interest is to help improve agricultural production and use research/breeding activities to benefit farmers and the agriculture industry by developing superior soybean and millets cultivars and germplasm for farmers and other stakeholders.

I have participated in the development of >75 cultivars (annually grown in >10 million acres) and 13 germplasm lines, published >165 peer-reviewed publications (and additionally >200 conference/meeting abstracts or posters), served as a PI/co-PI on federal and commodity board funded projects from multiple sources and given >75 invited talks nationally and internationally.

I have co-authored the textbook “Plant Breeding and Cultivar Development” (Academic Press, USA; 2021) [https://www.elsevier.com/books/plant-breeding-and-cultivar-development/singh/978-0-12-817563-7]. I lead AGRON 521 (Principles of Cultivar Development) and AGRON 522 (Field Methods in Plant Breeding) courses at ISU.

Plant-breeding experience: soybean, millets, durum wheat, wheat, maize, oats and barley.

Beavis, William

As professor, and GF Sprague Chair for Population Genetics, Bill teaches graduate courses in applied statistics (Agronomy 513), molecular plant breeding (Agronomy 523) and advanced plant breeding (Agronomy 621). His research interests are focused on optimization of the plant breeding process and genetic limits to crop improvements.

Al-Kaisi, Mahdi

Research interest focuses on the effect of cropping systems, tillage systems, and crop residue management on soil health, soil carbon dynamics, and greenhouse gas emission. Also, research interests include the interaction effects of agricultural practices and environmental factors (i.e., climate change) on agriculture systems sustainability and productivity.

Sawyer, John

Dr. Sawyer is a retired professor and extension soil fertility specialist in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He provided statewide leadership for extension soil fertility and nutrient management programs in Iowa.  His research focus was the study of nutrients in soils and plants, and fertilizer and manure nutrient management related to crop production and the environment.

Archontoulis, Sotirios

Sotirios Archontoulis is a professor of integrated cropping systems at the Department of Agronomy. His research aims to predict impacts (e.g. climate change), explain causes (e.g. high/low yields) and design future strategies to improve crop productivity and environmental sustainability across spatial and temporal scales. His approach combines field experimentation and use of agricultural systems process-based models to explain Genotype x Environment x Management interactions and enable prediction and design at scale.

Moore, Kenneth

Dr. Ken Moore is Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences and Professor in Agronomy at Iowa State University where he has been a member of the faculty since 1993. He previously held the Pioneer Hi-Bred Agronomy Professorship in Agronomy (2017-21). He holds a B.S. (1979) degree from Arizona State University and M.S. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) degrees in Agronomy from Purdue University. He held faculty positions at the University of Illinois (1983-87) and New Mexico State University (1987-89), and was a USDA/ARS Research Agronomist and adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1989-93). His research focuses on the development and improvement of biomass crops and cropping systems. He served as Project Director for the USDA-NIFA-CAP project CenUSA: Sustainable Production and Distribution of Bioenergy for the Central USA (2011-19). He is the founding director and led the development of the Master of Science in Agronomy distance education program (1995-2017). He served two terms (2010-2017) on the ISU Graduate Council and was its Chair during the 2015-16 academic year. He teaches a graduate course on quantitative methods and the design and analysis of agronomic experiments (Agron 526). He has worked on collaborative research and education projects in Morocco, Costa Rica, and New Zealand where he was a Senior Research Fellow with AgResearch Grasslands in 1998. Dr. Moore served as President of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA, 2004) and President of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA, 2008). He served on the editorial boards of Agronomy Journal, agronomy, and Crop Science, was the founding editor of the e-journal Crop Management, and is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of crops. He is co-editor of Forages Volume I: An Introduction to Grassland Agriculture and Forages Volume II: The Science of Grassland Agriculture. Dr. Moore is a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, and Sigma Xi and has been recognized with Outstanding Young Scientist and Merit Awards by the American Forage and Grassland Council, the Young Crop Scientist Award and Martin and Ruth Massengale Lectureship by CSSA, and the Agronomic Service Award, Distinguished Service Award, and Carl Sprengel Agronomic Research Award by ASA. He is a Fellow of ASA, CSSA, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Clark, Danielle

My role:

Coordinate the research activities of the Agronomy Shared Lab group. Provide research support and training to faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students who require the use of the shared equipment and facilities.

Research interests:

My general research interest is centered primarily on crops for bioenergy and sustainability. I have been working with biomass crops for 20+ years – starting at age 15!

Hobbies:

The outdoors, gardening & home canning, crafting, spending time with family, camping, kayaking, being healthy, and staying active!