News
Some articles related to our work.
Research Projects
We are currently involved in seven projects.
For detailed information on the individual projects see below
Modeling C4 and CAM crops
In this project I'm working together with Dr. German Bollero and Dr. Stephen Long to improve modeling of C4 and CAM crops with the objective of producing accurate and robust forecasts of their productivity which will help assess their potential as feedstocks for the emerging bioenergy industry. A postdoctoral researcher, located at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Deepak Jaiswal is leading this project. This project is supported by a grant from the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. PIs: German A Bollero, Fernando E Miguez and Stephen P Long. link
Biochar and Water Stress
We are trying to gain a better understanding on the effects of adding biochar to soil physical, chemical and biological properties and how this impacts plant growth. We are using a modeling framework to understand the effects on early corn water stress. This is a collaboration with Dr. David Laird and graduate student Andres Basso is leading this project.
Modeling Interaction of Weather, Soil and Corn response to N
For this project we are developing a database that incorporates maize, physiological and morphological data, weather data and soil characteristics. The ultimate objective is to gain a better understanding of crop performance. This is a collaboration with Dr. John Sawyer and graduate student Laila Puntel is leading the project.
Climate and Sustainable Corn-based Cropping Systems
We are involved in the USDA-NIFA funded project on "Climate Change, Mitigation and Adaptation in Corn-based Cropping Systems". Dr. Lois Wright-Morton is the PI and there are close to 40 other researchers from several universities involved in the project. Our role will be to support data analysis and use modeling approaches to integrate field experimentation, databases and social and policy issues with the objective of improving our understanding of the sustainability of corn-based systems. Andrea Basche is leading our portion of this project. (link)
Comparison of Biofuel Cropping Systems
We are involved in a cropping systems study comparing different feedstocks for biomass production. More information coming soon. (link)
Crop Modeling and M.S. in Agronomy
Agronomic systems are inherently complex. Traditional agronomy curricula generally take a reductive approach to understanding the basic elements of the agroecosystem with the ostensible expectation that students will be able to understand the system by understanding its individual components. While fundamental knowledge of the individual components is critical to understanding the functioning of agroecoystems, it does not account for the complex interactions and variation inherent in them. This project seeks to improve student understanding of these complexities by integrating the use of an agricultural systems modeling platform throughout a professional MS degree curriculum. We are involved in a cropping systems study comparing different feedstocks for biomass production. (link)
Bioenergy Coordinated Agricultural Project
We are part of the system performance team. For more details see (link)
Previous Research
This is a link that will take you to my previous work (previous research).