2025 Faculty Members:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Grapevine physiology and plant–environment interactions; vineyard management practices; fruit composition and its impact on wine quality
Research Focus:
My research focuses on identifying grape varieties best adapted to Tennessee’s climate and developing vineyard practices that reduce frost risk, control vigor, and improve fruit and wine quality. Central to my vision is exploring Tennessee’s terroir: understanding how the state’s soils, climate, and growing conditions contribute to the identity of its wines.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
- Suitability of soils and site characteristics for high-quality grape production
- Cultivar and rootstock adaptation to diverse environments across East, Middle, and West Tennessee
- Vineyard architecture design, including planting density, trellis systems, and pruning strategies
- Sustainable and precision-oriented vineyard management practices
- Berry ripening dynamics and fruit composition at harvest in relation to environmental and management factors
Experiments are conducted in potted vines (greenhouse, screenhouse) and in field settings
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
HPLC/DAD, -80C freezer, microplate reader
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Fruit and wine chemistry, Wine sensory analysis, Plant pathology, GIS, Automated systems
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Forest biometrics, measurements, and modeling; forest growth and yield; site productivity; multi-objective vegetation inventory
Research Focus:
My research interests include the use of traditional and emerging forest biometric techniques to address problems faced by stakeholders. My work often harnesses large forest and natural resources inventory databases to quantify and project forest attributes. I seek to emphasize practical applications of statistical analysis/modeling methods to provide utility to land managers. My research includes the evaluation and refinement of traditional biometric decisions-support tools, management effects on timber and non-timber resources, and monitoring of forest resource changes.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Statistical modeling, forest growth and yield systems/software, US Forest Service data (Forest Inventory and Analysis, Timber Products Output, National Woodland Owner Survey, etc.)
Equipment Used:
Common forest inventory tools including compasses, clinometers, diameter tapes, calipers, laser hypsometers, Haglof Vertex hypsometers, densiometers, prisms, and more.
Equipment Needed:
Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS)
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Remote sensing, landscape ecology, soil/site productivity, statistics, water quality
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Household food acquisition; Food and nutrition security; Food policy
Research Focus:
I study how consumers’ food shopping choices and methods of food acquisition can inform food policy and guide stakeholder decision-making. I focus on policies related to food and nutrition assistance as well as local/regional food system development, and consider implications for food and nutrition security and food system resiliency.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
I specialize in econometric analysis and the use of large-scale administrative datasets, including household and retail scanner data and the USDA NETS database. I also frequently employ causal inference techniques to analyze policy, as well as consumer surveys to evaluate emerging research questions.
Equipment Used:
In process of gaining access to the Nielsen Scanner Data via the UTK library
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Nutritionists, food scientists, family and consumer scientists
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Pathology of commercially produced fruit and vegetable crops
Research Focus:
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Natural Resource Economics; Conservation Policies; Ecosystem Services; Natural Capital; Land Use
Research Focus:
I study how environmental quality contributes to human livelihoods and well-being, and how economic activity affects environmental systems. I often develop models that integrate physical systems and data with economic behavior to evaluate and design environmental policies. Past research has explored the effectiveness of groundwater and land conservation policies, the design of incentives to build soil carbon, and the importance of healthy bat populations for agricultural productivity, local governments, and even municipal bond investors.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
In my work, I use a mix of economic theory and empirical methods that include applied econometrics, optimization, and simulation. This work often involves linking models of physical systems and economic behavior to evaluate and design policies that improve
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
I enjoy collaborating with physical scientists and other social scientists who want to build human economic behavior into the systems they study. This can improve analysis of policies aimed at better managing environmental resources. In the past, I have collaborated with ecologists, epidemiologists, engineers, hydrologists, soil scientists, and others.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
High-rate hybrid composite manufacturing, sustainable materials, and circular economy practices
Research Focus:
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Remote Sensing; Computer Vision; Machine Learning; AI; Applications in Ag and Natural Resources; Ecological Modeling; Decision Support Tools
Research Focus:
My research focuses on applying remote sensing technologies to address challenges in precision agriculture, environmental science, and wildlife management. I utilize multispectral, hyperspectral, and thermal imagery combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop solutions for a range of applications. Key areas of my past work include high-throughput crop phenotyping , detecting plant stress , mapping invasive species , analyzing wildfire damage, monitoring wildlife populations, food safety and security.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
I employ a range of field and computational methods to acquire and analyze data. My approach is heavily quantitative. My primary method for data collection is through small unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) equipped with various sensors and field spectroradiometers. I extensively use AI models for analysis. This includes deep learning with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for image classification, Support Vector Machines (SVM) , and other machine learning approaches for tasks like detecting crop infestation. In my research, I utilize advanced image analysis techniques such as hyperspectral band selection using metaheuristic optimization , texture classification , and data fusion to combine information from multiple sensor types, like hyperspectral and LiDAR data. For large-scale conservation projects, I use open-source remote sensing data and multi-criteria decision analysis within a geospatial analysis framework to prioritize conservation efforts.
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
UAS systems with multispectral, hyperspectral or LiDAR sensors.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty specializing in plant physiology, and pathology, Soil science would be ideal partners.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Precision livestock farming; computer vision; robotics; AI-driven decision support; hyperspectral imaging (HSI); internet of things (IoT); farm pest management; animal welfare and monitoring through data-driven approaches
Research Focus:
My research advances precision livestock farming by integrating computer vision, robotics, and AI to enhance animal health, welfare, and production efficiency. I develop noninvasive sensing systems using depth cameras, hyperspectral imaging, and IoT platforms for monitoring animals and farm environments. I also design robotic manipulators and autonomous platforms (UGVs/UAVs) for tasks such as automated vaccination, monitoring, and pest management. By bridging engineering with animal science, my work aims to create data-driven, scalable solutions that reduce labor, improve sustainability, and support decision-making in livestock systems.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Expertise includes robotics design and kinematics, computer vision (YOLO, SLAM, Grad-CAM), AI/ML modeling, hyperspectral and depth imaging, IoT sensor integration, and data-driven decision support. Methods involve image/video analysis, point cloud processing, manipulability analysis, remote sensing, and predictive modeling. Data sources include RGB-D video, hyperspectral signatures, sensor telemetry, and environmental monitoring data.
Equipment Used:
Depth cameras; hyperspectral imaging systems; robotic manipulators; UAVs and UGVs; 3D printer; high-performance workstations.
Equipment Needed:
High-throughput spectrophotometers for real-time biomarker detection; 3D bioprinted tissue phantoms for system testing.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Animal health and welfare; veterinary science; plant pathology; entomology; forage and pasture management; meteorology for farm monitoring; extension and outreach.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Heterogeneous catalysis; Agricultural waste and small molecule conversion
Research Focus:
Our research is centered on converting chemically inert small molecules (CO2 and CH4) and biomass platform chemicals, derived from industrial pollutant streams and agricultural waste, into value-added chemicals, fuels, and materials through the development of efficient catalytic processes. Our work investigates catalytic reaction mechanisms by evaluating process engineering, identifying active sites and reaction intermediates, thus guiding rational design of catalysts and catalytic processes.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
My expertise spans catalyst synthesis (metal, oxide, supported systems), reaction evaluation, and mechanistic studies.
Equipment Used:
Home made fix-bed reactors (1/2” and 1/4” tube size); Agilent Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS); SRI Gas Chromatography (GC)
Equipment Needed:
Chemisorption, Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; X-ray absorption spectroscopy; Transmission electron microscopy
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Transforming raw materials into platform chemicals through conversion or separation; Advanced characterization techniques for revealing solid material structure; Computational methods or AI for catalysis; Synthesizing well-defined metal-based materials
2024 Faculty Members:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Insect-Microbe Interactions
Research Focus:
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Fisheries Management; Movement; Habitat Use; Thermal Ecology; Age and Growth
Research Focus:
My research interests broadly focus on movement ecology of fishes, and how that information can be used to assess and manage populations. Within that, I am particularly interested in habitat use of fishes throughout their life history, the connectivity of key habitats (spawning, nursery, overwintering) in fragmented systems, and how current thermal habitat availability and use may change in a changing climate. The questions I focus on are often informed by specific management needs identified by state and federal agencies.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
I often use telemetry (acoustic or radio) to address research questions, but integrate that technique with various other laboratory and field-based methods in fisheries science, including hydroacoustics, age and growth analysis, and conventional tagging.
Equipment Used:
Acoustic telemetry stationary receivers
Equipment Needed:
Hydroacoustic equipment (side scan sonar, other types of sonars used in habitat mapping and fish observation)
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
I can see potential collaborations with faculty that have expertise in water resources, particularly related to hydropower or floodplain connectivity, and faculty working on predicting the effects of climate change on flow and temperature regimes.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Plant Pathosystems
Research Focus:
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Equipment Used:
Equipment Needed:
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Host immune response; small ruminants; helminth parasites
Research Focus:
In our lab, we use a sheep model to investigate host immune responses against helminth parasites to understand 1) host-pathogen dynamics in the gastrointestinal tract 2) immuneometabolic regulation and 3) immune signaling pathways.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
We use cell isolation and culture along with immune assays such as ELISAs, cell migration and proliferation. We also use next generation sequencing to understand immune cell transcriptomes, and metabolic function using mitochondrial stress tests, amongst other techniques.
Equipment Used:
A wide array of general lab equipment to facilitate microbiology, cell culture, parasite culture, imaging and transcriptomic analysis.
Equipment Needed:
Flow cytometer
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
I’m always keen to collaborate with other faculty interested in animal physiology, particularly regarding health and disease management.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Wild Plant – Pathogen Coevolution in Natural Ecosystems
Research Focus:
Severe disease epidemics in wild plant pathosystems are rare when compared to crop pathosystems. Genetic heterogeneity of the hosts is a significant feature of wild plant populations. It presumably plays a major role in suppressing the emergence of novel pathogen virulence. My lab aims to understand how the genetic makeup of wild grape populations in the Blue Ridge Mountains influences its coevolution with a highly coevolved downy mildew-causing pathogen and vice versa. We integrate fields of genomics, population and evolutionary genomics, computational biology, ecology, and plant pathology. My lab’s long-term goal is to learn evolutionary principles from wild plant pathosystems that will be useful in managing crop diseases sustainably.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Evolutionary Plant Pathology, My lab uses genomics, population and evolutionary genomics, computational biology, and plant pathology methods. We work with whole-genome sequencing data generated with short-read (High-throughput) and long-read sequencing technologies. The lab also analyzes ecological data of the sampled area and also integrates host-pathogen interactions phenotyping data generated in the laboratory setting.
Equipment Used:
A dedicated compute node in OIT, Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencer, a plant growth incubator
Equipment Needed:
DNA Sequencing library-prep robot, Off-road truck
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Viticulture, Mathematical and ecological modeling, molecular biology.
2023 Faculty Members:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
My research interest lies in agricultural automation and robotics for cropping and livestock systems; Developing a digital tool by integrating sensors, data, and AI for decision support, predictive and precision agriculture; Smart agricultural machinery, robots and ground vehicles.
Research Focus:
My research focus is on addressing the critical food production challenges (cost, labor, safety, and food security) to feed the world by 2050 and beyond sustainably. My research thrusts range from conventional agricultural machinery to mobile robots, which falls into three primary categories:
• Mesh robotic technology with conventional and non-conventional food production with an individual or robotic fleet approach.
• Develop and integrate precision Ag technologies (equipped with advanced sensors, robots, and data) for crop input optimization and site-specific operation to reduce environmental footprints and costs.
• Introduce and implement AI in conventional machines and mobile robots/ground vehicles.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Ground robotics, sensor technology, machinery, mechatronics, and artificial intelligence methods in agriculture.
Equipment Used:
Small ground vehicles and aerial robots or platforms for sensing and application in agriculture, including crops and livestock.
Equipment Needed:
Large Agricultural machinery and equipment (tractors, sprayers, and planters).
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Precision agriculture, cropping system (agronomy), smart farming, field crop physiologist, and entomologist.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Sustainable Agricultural Production and Policy, Conservation Practice Adoption, Risk Management, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Land Value, Applied Econometrics.
Research Focus:
My research focuses on applied production economics, with special emphasis on the economics of soil health management practices (e.g. cover crops and conservation tillage), agricultural policies related to risk management, technology adoption, and dynamic decision making.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Expertise: Economics of Sustainable Production
Research Methods: Applied Econometrics
Data: Cover crop and no-till adoption data, RMA insurance data, USDA NASS Quick Stats data, USDA NRCS conservation payment data, EWG government payment data, soil erosion data.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Agricultural Production, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Conservation, Soil Health.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Cattle behavior; animal welfare; abnormal behavior; cognition; social behavior
Research Focus:
My research aims to address relevant animal welfare issues to solve real-world problems, generate creative solutions that can be implemented on farms, and lead to lives worth living for animals. My current research focuses on dairy cattle, particularly the ways in which barrenness (i.e. social, feed, environmental deprivation) affects abnormal behaviors, social dynamics, and cognition. I am primarily interested in how early life experiences influence the development and persistence of behavior in later life. Through my research, I seek to identify and validate non-invasive indicators of negative affect, and investigate motivation to perform natural behaviors that are traditionally limited in farm environments.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
“Expertise: animal welfare, abnormal behavior, behavioral testing, behavioral coding, sampling/recording methods, reliability training, data visualization
Methods/data: Live/video observations, wearable technology”
Equipment Used:
Video cameras, including slow-motion recording capability; iPads for behavior scoring
Equipment Needed:
Heart rate monitors, thermal camera, force plates, durable touchscreens, laser/algometer for nociceptive threshold testing, GPS proximity loggers for pasture environments.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Researchers investigating management changes (e.g. comparing different animal housing); gut microbiome; movement morphology and consistency.
Skill sets: engineering skills to develop novel enrichment, motivation testing apparatus, alternative animal identification.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Water resources; flooding; water quality; disaster dynamics; geospatial analytics; machine learning applications in hydrology
Research Focus:
My research explores the complex dynamics of our environment using data analytics and modeling approaches. We pursue questions regarding how human actions influence ecosystem health and downstream water resources through an interdisciplinary, management-focused perspective. To accomplish this, we leverage data from disparate sources ranging from discrete field samples to remotely sensed satellite imagery. Data-intensive modeling techniques include Bayesian statistical learning, neural networks, classification and regression trees, multivariate analysis, graphical models, and geospatial analytics. Research projects include flood modeling in agriculture-dominated landscapes, assessing surface water quality dynamics after major storm events through explanatory modeling, characterizing different agricultural features in Tennessee using high-resolution aerial imagery and computer vision, and quantifying microplastic abundance/type in different urban watersheds.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
I have expertise in environmental data science, hydrology, watershed science, geostatistical modeling, machine learning modeling, ArcGIS, R programming, and using the UT HPSC (ISAAC).
I use geospatial data (remotely sensed imagery as well as large-scale open-access data products), water quality data, flood extent data, climate data, and other environmental data.
Equipment Used:
I have a computational lab with a 16-GB RAM iMac computer and access to the UT supercomputing cluster ISAAC.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Faculty members who are interested in studying public health, socio-environmental dynamics, ecological health, surface water quality, and biodiversity from a watershed or geospatial perspective. Also faculty members who have large amounts of environmental data and want to conduct statistical and modeling analyses.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Controlled environment (CEA) fruit physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology; RNA-based plant trait delivery; Biopesticides; Biostimulant; Phytohormone; Fruit production, and quality; Source-sink relationship; Plant-microbe interaction.
Research Focus:
My research group is focused on the physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of Controlled/protected environment (CEA) fruit production. The philosophy of my research program is based on exploring biological phenomena at the levels of plants, organs, genes, proteins, and metabolites and translating this knowledge into practical strategies to enhance the productivity and quality of fruit crops in the CEA system. I am employing cutting-edge methodologies and advanced techniques in molecular biology and functional genomics to explore complex molecular mechanisms related to various aspects of CEA fruit production. These aspects include source-sink relationship, flowering, fruit growth and development, fruit quality and nutritional properties, environmental stress responses and tolerance, plant-microbe interaction, etc.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
• Investigates the plant responses to the biotic and abiotic stresses and their tolerance mechanism by utilizing various plant physiological, biochemical, and molecular biology techniques.
• Characterization of the water and nutrient use efficiency of plants in hydroponic, greenhouse, and field conditions.
• Understanding the growth, development, and phenology of fruit crops.
• Omics (Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics).
• Native RNA sequencing (MinION; Oxford Nanopore Technologies)
• Isolations of nucleic acid (DNA/RNA), RT-qPCR, ddPCR.
• Gel electrophoresis (2D-SDS-PAGE, SDS-PAGE, BN-PAGE, Agarose gel electrophoresis), Western blot analysis.
• Cloning, Genetic transformation.
• dsRNA synthesis in a prokaryotic system.
• Different biochemical analyses (ROS, enzymatic activities, redox status, primary and secondary metabolites, etc.) using Spectroscopy (UV/Vis and fluorescence).
• Column chromatography, TLC, GC, HPLC, LC-MS/MS.
• Histochemical analysis, Microtome sectioning, Scanning electron microscopy, Fluorescence microscopy.
Equipment Used:
PCR; qPCR; Different electrophoresis system; Microplate reader, LC-MS, MinION (Oxford Nanopore); Antimicrobial Assay setup; Fluorescence microscope; Geno-grinder; Refractometer; etc.
Equipment Needed:
LC-MS for phytohormone quantification; Prokaryotic expression system for biomolecules (RNA, peptides).
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
RNAi (Virus-induced gene silencing, Spray-induced gene silencing etc.); Crop physiology and biochemistry; Fruit quality and sensory properties; Microbiome; Soil-Plant-Microbe interactions, Bioinformatics.
Faculty Profile:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Population ecology; movement; survival; aquatic ecology; fisheries; fish community; quantitative ecology; ecological methods
Research Focus:
I am a fisheries scientist interested mainly in movement, survival and population dynamics of fish and any other taxonomic group. I am interested in all things survival, movement, quantitative and aquatic
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Bayesian statistics, modeling and simulations, estimation of survival
Equipment Needed:
Telemetry equipment
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Movement ecology, quantitative methods, survival, population dynamics,
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Plant synthetic biology, genetic engineering of plant cells, plastid genetic engineering, synthetic genomes, CRISPR-Cas technology
Research Focus:
The main focus of my research is to use the most precise and advanced techniques of synthetic biology, including CRISPR-Cas techniques and synthetic genomes, to produce the next generation of “valuable plants” with an increased impact on human population (improving crop production, food biofortification and plant resilient to environmental stresses).
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Plant synthetic biology, genetic engineering of plant cells, plastid genetic engineering, synthetic genomes, CRISPR-Cas technology
Equipment Used:
Standard molecular biology lab, Gene-Gun transformation, and growth facility for tissue culture
Equipment Needed:
Electron microscopy facilities, analytical chemistry facilities
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Modelling and computer scientists
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Faculty Profile:
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Environmental and resource economics, water economics, production economics and applied econometrics.
Research Focus:
My research focuses on the interactions between agricultural production, natural resources, and the environment. I am particularly interested in better understanding how water scarcity and climate change impact agricultural production, and how economic agents and institutions of the agricultural sector adapt to them. I am also interested in the role of policy mechanisms in agricultural producer decision making, and the implementation of behavioral interventions and collective action efforts to conserve natural resources.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Econometric models, spatial data, various secondary data sources
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Economics, natural resources, business analytics, machine learning, hydrology, agronomy, etc
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Science communication; adoption of innovations in science; misinformation in the media; processing of complex information; message testing
Research Focus:
My research program focuses on the nexus of agricultural literacy, science literacy, and media literacy and answers the central question of “How do these literacies influence the public’s attitudes and behaviors within the context of agriculture and natural resources (ANR)?” My research explores these concepts through multiple approaches – including testing the effects of media literacy on consumer behaviors/attitudes, exploring the role of agricultural literacy on individuals’ decision-making processes related to innovations in ANR, and developing programs to enhance scientists’ science communication skills to address science literacy concerns. This multifaceted approach would allow us to address growing concerns of science literacy, agricultural literacy, and media literacy in modern society.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
I have extensive experience in Mixed Methods Research designs that use both quantitative and qualitative methods to gather data to explore research questions in a holistic way. Specifically, I have extensive experience with survey design and administering large-scale surveys to collect state, regional, and national samples.
I also have expertise in designing, moderating, and analyzing focus group research to gain in-depth insights into how stakeholders view ANR topics of interest. Additionally, many of my studies involved message design and testing to explore how message frames, sources, and images impact stakeholders’ attitudes and behaviors.
Equipment Needed:
I have been able to use social-listening software, like Meltwater, on past projects to track online conversations related to ANR topics and identify online social networks related to these topics and top influencers. I would like to identify similar programs here at UTK or include Meltwater in future grant applications when appropriate.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
I believe my work would complement any projects dealing with potentially sensitive or controversial scientific topics for the public – my research would be able to support these teams of faculty to determine the best way to communicate about their research with key stakeholder groups to encourage adoption.
My research can also add value to grant teams by providing expertise in consumer research to identify influences on behaviors and attitudes, which would help strengthen the outreach/education component of proposals.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Stewardship, visitor use management, parks and protected area management, human dimensions of natural resources, effectiveness of educational programs / interpretation
Research Focus:
Understanding the complex dynamic between visitor use and conservation in parks and protected areas.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Outdoor recreation and park management – Social Science.
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Consumer behavior; food and beverage policy; alcohol markets; supply chains
Research Focus:
My research program emphasizes decision-making across food and beverage supply chains, including consumer and producer responses to emerging markets, market conditions, and policy changes.
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
My expertise is in consumer behavior, demand analysis, and marketing. I use both primary and secondary data in my research. Primary data includes choice experiments, auctions, and other valuation techniques often embedded in online (or in-person) surveys. Secondary data includes industry and government datasets. I also plan on incorporating scanner data into my future research projects. Both the primary and secondary data are analyzed using choice modeling and regression analysis.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
Food and beverage markets; sensory analysis; food science; spatial analysis
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Sustainable materials; Advanced manufacturing; Industrial and Agricultural applications; Materials recycling
Research Focus:
- High-performance natural fibers reinforced polymer composites
- Large-scale 3D printing of biocomposites for structural applications
- Renewable nanomaterials to improve crop yields
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Biopolymers (especially polysaccharides), Biocomposites, Packaging materials; Adhesion & adhesives, Large-format 3D printing, Plant nanotechnology
Equipment Used:
Pellet-fed 3D printer
Equipment Needed:
Unidirectional prepreg tape production line
Faculty Profile:
Research Interests:
Construction & Post-Construction Stormwater Management; Erosion & Sediment Control Technology Innovation; UAV Applications in Construction, Construction Work Force Development
Research Focus:
My research efforts focus on developing scientific understandings of stormwater treatment technologies used to minimize impacts of construction, urban, and agricultural stormwater runoff. My vision is to craft innovative and practical stormwater management solutions that are recognized nationally as best ‘standards of practice’ through applied research, product evaluations, and knowledge transfer. In addition to stormwater research, I’m interested in workforce development within the construction, primarily focusing on equipment operational training (e.g., CDL training, heavy equipment training, safety training, etc.).
Check out my research website to see what I’ve done: https://blakewhitman89.wixsite.com/mysite
Expertise, Research Methods and Data Used:
Research methodologies utilized to accomplish research objectives include large-scale testing, small-scale testing, bench-scale testing, and in-field monitoring. It’s gonna be hot, bring your work boots and water bottle!
Equipment Used:
Large, small, and bench-scale testing apparatuses. Various types of construction equipment (e.g., skid steer) are employed to build testing apparatuses and perform tests. If you want to learn how to operate construction equipment, look no more! With more than 20 years of equipment operational experience, I’m the guy that can teach you and help you build your research facilities.
Equipment Needed:
Mini excavator, skid steer, bulldozer, excavator, equipment training simulators.
Collaborator Interests and Skills Desired:
I welcome all faculty with an intertest in my areas of research to reach out! Let’s have lunch! I’m available on MWF. I look forward to collaborating with faculty with real-world, hands-on experience in the construction industry, particularly heavy civil construction. Let’s talk dirt!
