Diversifying the Water Portfolio for Agriculture in the Rio Grande Basin

Group photo of students and professors smiling at a tour of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Brackish Groundwater Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Dr. Askarali Karimov of BAEN is Co-Principal Investigator on Diversifying the Water Portfolio for Agriculture in the Rio Grande, a 4-year project with estimated budget of $5 Million based on the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2017-68007-26318. The Rio Grande extends 1,900 miles from Southern Colorado through New Mexico and Texas to the Gulf of Mexico and is the fourth longest river in the U.S. It is listed, however, as one of the world’s most endangered rivers. The Rio Grande… Read More →

Alumni Spotlight: David Arthur

The construction of the gin inside of the building is taking place.

David Arthur wanted to find a degree that blended science and agriculture and he found that at Texas A&M University in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering. While here he was a leader in the ASABE student club and AggiePullers. The cotton industry called his name after graduating from TAMU where he has been involved in developing the largest gin in production. What degrees have you obtained from Texas A&M University? Bachelor of Science in Biological & Agricultural Engineering What drew you to Texas A&M University? A… Read More →

Texas A&M Hires New Leader of Agriculture College

Dean Stover is posing for a classic portrait wearing a black suit with a maroon tie.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System unanimously voted Thursday to hire a nationally recognized leader in nutritional science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences to lead Texas A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the System’s agriculture agencies. As the incoming Vice Chancellor and Dean for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Dr. Patrick J. Stover, will be well positioned to better align research and extension efforts related to agriculture and human health. Dr. Stover, who comes… Read More →

Department Head’s Corner- March 2018

Howdy, As we approach spring break, I want to update you on several activities important to the department. New faculty – You will see in other parts of this newsletter introductions to Drs. Hardin, King and Moore, our new assistant professors. We are extremely pleased to have them join the department, and look forward to their contributions. New faculty means new ideas and fresh energy, so be on the lookout for stories on their accomplishments in future newsletters. Record number of graduates – Our capstone courses AGSM 440… Read More →

New Faculty Bring New Ideas to Department

Dr. Moore is wearing a red shirt smiling at the under served youth she is speaking to for the Biogas Energy AcadeMy program.

With an approach to science by using a holistic approach, Dr. Maria King has merged biological engineering and biotechnology with different fields and departments of Texas A&M including electrical engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, physics, mechanical and nuclear engineering as well as techniques that range from microbial analysis and pathogen detection to air sampling and computational fluid dynamics. Her work has been collaborated with outside organizations such as the United States Department of Defense, the United States Air Force, federal agencies like USDA, EPA, and industrial partners including… Read More →

Texas 4-H Youth Water Ambassadors Creating Leaders for the Future

Students form two lines wearing their blue polos.

The Texas 4-H Water Ambassador Program (initiated in 2017) provides high school aged youth an opportunity to gain advanced knowledge and practice leadership skills related to the science, technology, engineering, and management of water in Texas. Through their participation in a summer 4-H2O Youth Leadership Academy and (40) hours of annual service, water ambassadors gain insight into water law, policy and planning as they interact with representatives from state water agencies, educators, policy-makers, and water resources managers. Water ambassadors also gain an appreciation for the complexity of managing… Read More →

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 →

Karthikeyan Appointed Program Chair for Water Management & Hydrological Science

Dr. Karthikeyan, affectionately called Dr. K by his students, was recently appointed as the Program Chair for the Water Management & Hydrological Science (WMHS) Interdisciplinary Program (IDP). This graduate program was created in 2005 to foster the discovery and application of knowledge about water management, conservation, treatment, and recycling. Being the second largest IDP at Texas A&M University, the program offers a wide range of water-related courses that students can take. The diverse coursework is available to students due to the interdisciplinary nature of the water issues. As… 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 for the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

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

Winter wheat is feasible cover crop for Rolling Plains cotton. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Dr. Paul DeLaune)

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 →