People and Places

By far the most important product to any professional in really any field is the people he/she was able to mentor.  In university settings, that product is graduate students receiving MS and PHD degrees. But, no graduate is really a viable product unless he or she ends up gainfully employed and in agricultural research.  Of the almost 90 students that have finished degrees with me, many are now professors at key universities in the US, and/or hold leadership positions in Industry, the CGIAR system, and private enterprise.  It has been a great privilege to have these associations over the years.

Of the 6 years I spent working in Central America, witnessing a 5-year-old girl pushing a small cart filled with firewood back to her house for cooking near La Esperanza, Honduras has always been one of the more indelible moments of my life. This field where we were conducting on-farm research with CIMMYT was no different than all the rest, nor was this little girl any different than any other I would encounter in corn fields of Central America.  What was unique about this moment was that it was captured on film, in my mind, and what has always seemed like a passing spirit, yesterday, in 1987. 

What this girl knows about hard work is worth talking about, considering what has been required of her at such an early age.

When people in the third world have problems, we can help simply by caring.  If we care, and many others like us care, something will ultimately be done.  If we don't care, their problems will never be discussed, and their needs will never be met.  If we simply recognize their need, it will ultimately make us better ambassadors and teachers.

This girl will never talk about how hard she works or how hard she had to work as a child, the picture tells the story.  We will never know how many people she helped as helping others was a way of life.

If someone has to tell you that they are working hard, and that they are doing this and that for other people, it is highly likley that neither is true.

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, M.S. Student, 1981-1982

Dr. Robert L. Westerman, Professor and Head of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences gave me the opportunity to pursue a Master of Science Degree in Soil Science in 1981.  His honesty, integrity and humility have always been exemplary qualities and have truly made a difference in my life. 

Pictured on the left, Dr. Bill Webb, Dr. Robert Westerman and Dr. Billy Tucker in the Magruder Plots, now in their 107th year.  Early on Dr. Westerman exposed me to long-term research and their value in soil fertility work.  Oklahoma State University continues 14 long-term experiments initiated by A.C. Magruder, Horace Harper, Billy Tucker and Robert Westerman

Dr. Don Sander was one of my two advisors at the University of Nebraska.  It was an honor to work with him as he was always thinking.  Dr. Sander would draw on anything, a napkin, the ground, a matchbox, the table, and when things were really tight, he would draw on his hands.   You want dedication.... the word meant Dr. Sander.  Dr. Sander loved his students and would do anything for them.  We always felt needed and important whenever we were with him. 

CIMMYT-Mexico, Post Doctoral Fellow, Mexico City and Ciudad Obregon, 1985 - 1987

When I first moved to Mexico following the completion of my Ph.D. work at Nebraska, it was refreshing to find so many people who cared about third-world hunger.  To date, working at CIMMYT has always been an important defining factor of my professional career.  The staff at CIMMYT is unique considering that everyone is there to help and truly committed to increasing cereal production in the world.   CIMMYT headquarters (near Texcoco) and parts of the Ciudad Obregon experiment station are pictured below.

CIMMYT-Central America, Regional Agronomist, 1987 - 1991.

I always considered it to be a privilege to work as a Regional Agronomist for CIMMYT in Central America.  The needs were so great and the resources so limited, yet these people knew how to get things done.  All of the National Program staff members that we serviced were committed to solving problems and they were truly interested in making a contribution.  Countries included in my region were Guatemala (where I lived), Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba

Soil Erosion is the number one problem restricting maize production in Central America.  Our work focused on developing systems that would minimize erosion.  Whether in rotation (above) or relay (below), we were constantly evaluating different species that would grow with maize (interseeded or delayed planting).   With time we found that Canavalia ensiformis  and Vigna spp. did very well within corn, provided good soil coverage (thus decreasing erosion), and to some extent assisted with weed control.  All crops reduced maize grain yields as they competed for moisture.

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1992 to present:

In 1988, Dr. Robert Westerman initiated comprehensive soil sampling of our long-term winter wheat N-P-K fertility experiments.   Via his work and what has ensued, we have found that nitrate accumulation (risk of leaching) does not become significant until N is applied in excess of that required for maximum yield.  Soil-plant inorganic nitrogen buffering (graph below) documents why NO3-N leaching is unlikely in dryland production systems when N fertilization is not excessive.

Dr. Nick Basta is the Soil Chemist at OSU.   Nick has been a dear friend over the years, always willing to understand my point of view, even when it made no sense.  Nick keeps my political pulse in balance with his daily Democratic view of the world.  He has been most gracious and kind when in comes to educating me and others.  Nick has politely answered each and every question that I have had without making me feel uncomfortable.  Every night at 5:30 p.m. when my daughters have arrived at the office, Nick has always had 'smarties' or a 'tootsie-pop' in hand to make them smile.

2002 VRT Commercial Applicator

TEAM-VRT at OSU, 1992-present

  Over the years I have been extremely fortunate to work with some of the best scientists in the world. Below, Marvin Stone stands in front of the sensor based variable rate applicator that our TEAM-VRT developed in 1995.  In March, 1996, we held a field day where this technology was displayed to farmers and fertilizer dealers.

Some of our first work took place on bermudagrass in August of 1993 near Ardmore, OK. Pictured below is Marvin Stone and John Solie.  John adds a unique dimension to our team, since he is not only a first class engineer, but also a former lawyer and farmer.  We continue to work with the Noble Foundation (in Ardmore, OK) on the development of sensor-based detection of nutrient deficiencies in wheat and bermudagrass.

A picture of our first variable rate applicator is seen on the left (1996), and the commercial applicator we released in 2002 (below) with NTech Industries .   All of us remain very proud of what we were able to do together as a team.  At no time in my life have I ever worked with a group of scientists so dedicated to solving problems and who are truly committed to what the TEAM can accomplish.  Team members, John Solie, and Marv Stone, are nothing short of outstanding.

The happiest person ever to work in the Soil Fertility Project was Hasil Sembiring.  The picture below describes him well.  Hasil received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at OSU and was always a joy to work with.  All our students absolutely loved Hasil.  Hasil is now back in Indonesia where he works for the National Program

Steve Phillips, Ph.D student was always processing information.  Steve provided significant leadership needed in our project and he is now an Associate Professor at Virginia Tech.  His dedication to people in need, our students, and to our science was personally inspiring.

People like Jing Chen (left) have always made my life easy.  Jing and so many others have worked tirelessly in the field and lab to bring so many of our projects to fruition