Photo by Toni DiTommaso
Milkweed in bloom
Weed Science - DiTommaso, Hahn
Integrated weed management involving ways that biotic and abiotic factors affect weed population and community dynamics, and seed dormancy. Weed control recommendations, herbicide residues and resistant biotypes.
Seed Science - Obendorf
Examination of the factors and mechanisms which regulate seed growth, seed maturation, and subsequent germination events using both in planta and in vitro culture technologies for seeds, zygotic embryos, and somatic embryos.
Integrative Crop and Soil Management - Cox
Evaluation of environmental, biotic, and management interactions that influence the growth, development, yield, and quality of corn, soybeans, and wheat. Management of forages for maximum economic returns and minimum soil erosion and nitrate losses with environmentally safe management practices.
Field experiments to develop methods for measuring and improving forage quality, production, and animal performance; best management practices for corn, soybeans, and wheat.
Biofuels Production - Cherney
Examination of agronomic and economic sustainability of grass as a bioenergy source.
Crop Physiology and Molecular Biology - Obendorf, Setter, Vatamaniuk
Mechanisms by which drought and other environmental stresses arrest sink-organ development (especially kernels and other storage organs), alter phytohormone levels and modify the expression of gene products involved in stress response and seed desiccation tolerance. Mechanisms used to detoxify heavy metals; genes involved in synthesis, transport and regulation of phytochelatin and interacting pathways.
Precision Agriculture - van Es
Nutrient management using spatial information and field-based analytical instruments for use in precision agriculture.