Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. – Ten new assistant professors have joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences this fall, four of them at Research and Outreach Centers statewide.
Their expertise ranges from precision agriculture to integrated pest management for organic fruit and vegetables to forest ecosystem health. Some are located at the college’s main campus in St. Paul while others will work at research centers in Grand Rapids, Crookston, Lamberton and Morris.
"These new faculty members are innovative researchers and teachers who will make a difference in how the university connects with our agricultural and natural resources partners around the state," said Brian Buhr, CFANS dean. "We’re fortunate to have them."
The new faculty members are:
Jason Beddow, Department of Applied Economics. Hired as part of MnDRIVE, the university’s partnership with state government and industry, hefocuses on the ways in which research investment patterns and natural environments (including pests, diseases, climate and weather) affect agricultural production and productivity, the spatial dynamics of production, and bridging the divide between biology and economics (bio-economics). He teaches courses in science and technology policy and international development.
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Ashok Kumar Chanda, Department of Plant Pathology and Northwest Research and Outreach Center at Crookston. His research focuses on understanding the biology and management of sugar beet diseases. His position is financially supported by sugar-beet growers associations and cooperatives.
Axel Garcia y Garcia, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and Southwest Research and Outreach Center, Lamberton. Garcia’s research will focus on integration of cover crop components or other crops into current cropping systems with an emphasis on multi-functional agriculture and the delivery of ecosystem services.
Rob Gardner, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering; and West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris. Gardner's research focuses on renewable energy and sustainability by using microbes to convert sunlight, wastes, and other low-cost nutrients into value-added products such as fuel, food, and specialty chemicals. He’ll also teach "Renewable Energy and the Environment," an online course for undergraduates.
Julie Grossman, Department of Horticultural Science. Her research broadly explores ways to better manage plant-soil-microbe relationships in organic systems in order to enhance soil fertility, with the ultimate goal of developing sustainable food production systems. She’ll also teach "Student Organic Farm Planning, Growing, and Marketing" and "Holistic Approaches to Improving Food Systems Sustainability."
Satoshi Ishii, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. His research focuses on environmental microbiology and biotechnology. His specific research interests are bioremediation of inorganic nutrients, removal and recovery of heavy metals, and assessing the risks of environmental pathogens. He will teach a new course related to bioremediation of soil and water.
Nicolas A. Jelinski, Department of Soil, Water and Climate. Jelinski's research is focused on the application of soils information to problems in food security and soil genesis. He plans to develop an urban soils research program that increases engagement and awareness of issues related to soils, urban agriculture and public health in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. He’ll teach courses in soil science and soils judging.
Christopher Philips, Department of Entomology. His research focuses on sustainable integrated and organic management of arthropod pest, pollinator and beneficial species of fruit and vegetable crops. He’ll teach "Principles of Integrated Pest Management in Sustainable Agroecosystems."
Matthew Russell, Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist, Department of Forest Resources. His research interests focus on forest ecosystem health and how changing environmental conditions influence the structure and function of forests. His programming with Extension emphasizes strategies to sustain the health and productivity of Minnesota forests.
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Ce Yang, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering and the Department of Soil, Water and Climate. Her research expertise is in precision agriculture, remote sensing, machine vision, spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging, machine learning and pattern recognition as well as big data in agriculture. She’ll teach courses in precision agriculture, process control and instrumentation.
