Author Archives: David Riggs
High Plains Irrigation Conference set Feb. 7 in Amarillo
The annual High Plains Irrigation Conference will be Feb. 7 in the North Exhibit Hall of the Amarillo Civic Center, 401 S. Buchanan St., Amarillo. The program, hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Agricultural Irrigation Association, will address a wide variety of topics of interest, said Dr. Charles Hillyer, program coordinator and AgriLife Extension irrigation specialist in Amarillo. Registration begins at 8 a.m. with the program starting at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 5 p.m. Cost is $30 and includes breakfast burritos and… Read More →
Mohanty elected Fellow for American Association for Advancement of Science
Dr. Binayak Mohanty, Regents Professor in the department of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University, has been elected to the rank of Fellow by the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science “for preeminent efforts in the application of remote sensing platforms for understanding multi-scale hydrology and developing scaling rules for soil moisture and hydrologic fluxes.” According to the organization, AAAS is the premier scientific society that seeks to advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people and… Read More →
AgriLife Research study: Winter wheat feasible cover crop for Rolling Plains cotton
Interest in using cover crops to improve soil health continues to grow in the Texas Rolling Plains region, but the nagging concern of reductions in soil moisture and effects on yields of subsequent cash crops still exists. A Texas A&M AgriLife Research-led team is releasing the results of a recent simulation study that builds on field research in the December issue of Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, or ASABE, journal. The paper, Simulated Effects of Winter Wheat Cover Crops on Cotton Production Systems… Read More →
Thomasson Named Texas Section ASABE Engineer of the Year
Congratulations to Dr. Alex Thomasson for being named ASABE Texas Section Engineer of the Year! The award is given by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Members of the society “put science to work to meet humanity’s most fundamental needs: safe and abundant food; clean water; fiber, timber, and renewable sources of fuel; and life-enhancing and life-saving products from bio-based materials.” Recipients of this award are individuals who provide significant contributions to the agricultural engineering profession through professional excellence and dedication to service. Dr. Thomasson previously… Read More →
Student Spotlight: Michaela Goff
Michaela Goff always knew that Texas A&M University was the place for her even if the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department wasn’t on her radar when arriving as a freshman. She has since jumped straight in and is now the President of the ASABE Student Club. What drew you to Texas A&M University? I’ve known that Texas A&M was the school I wanted to go to since a young age. As I researched other colleges and universities, I noticed that the Aggie network was something that was very… Read More →
Water rights seminar to address who gets dwindling reserves
A powerhouse speaker’s panel highlights the 2017 Seminar on Water Rights and Public Policy – The Waters of the Rio Grande to be held from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Oct. 25 at the McAllen Convention Center, 700 Convention Center Boulevard in McAllen. Concerns about how dwindling water supplies are distributed once reservoirs start running dry will be one the topics covered in the upcoming seminar, according to Dr. Guy Fipps, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service irrigation engineer and professor in the biological and agricultural engineering department… Read More →
Department Honored with Recent Awards
Congratulations to all who were recently honored at the 2017 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Awards Ceremony which was held on September 20th, 2017 in the AgriLife Center on the Texas A&M University campus. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to making the department a great place to call home. Dr. Zivko Nikolov awarded the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Faculty Mentoring Dr. Nikolov has been a member of the Biological and Agricultural Engineering department since 2003. During his tenure, he has mentored numerous… Read More →
Thomasson appointed to endowed cotton chair at Texas A&M University
Dr. Alex Thomasson has been appointed to the endowed Chair in Cotton Engineering, Ginning and Mechanization in the department of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station. The endowed chair was established in 1998 by multiple cotton supporters and was first held by Dr. Calvin Parnell Jr. until his retirement in 2016. “Dr. Thomasson is an established researcher with 27 years experience, which includes positions at the U.S. Cotton Ginning Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and Mississippi State University prior… Read More →
Texas A&M Engineering rises in rankings to 7th in newest US News & World Report undergraduate rankings
Texas A&M Engineering climbed to seventh among public engineering schools offering a doctorate and 14th overall in the 2018 U.S. News and World Report Best College Rankings for undergraduate engineering programs released this week. The college rose two places overall from 16 to 14 and one place among public institutions from eight to seven among its peers. The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, which is part of both the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at… Read More →
Breathing New Life in to Scoates Artwork
Built in 1932, the Agricultural Engineering Building, now known as Daniels Scoates Hall, was designed to provide agricultural engineering instruction, research and extension. The building features a beautiful wrought iron doorway, exterior ornamentation, and a highly decorated foyer and lecture room. The lecture hall originally contained a stenciled-tile ceiling, an ornate chandelier, a wooden turntable, and murals. The frieze was painted for the building opening in 1933, followed by the six panel color mural in 1939 at the request of Daniel Scoates, the department head at the time…. Read More →