The Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved the academic advancement of nine outstanding Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources faculty members during their latest meeting (Mar. 7).
“We are incredibly proud of our exceptional faculty receiving promotion and tenure this year. Each of them has excelled in their respective areas and are representative of the outstanding teaching, research, and outreach and engagement culture of Davis College,” said Darren Hudson, Davis College Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives & Assessment and the Larry Combest Endowed Chair for Agricultural Competitiveness in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics.
“These faculty are leading the way toward Davis College reaching "Prime" through trans-disciplinary research that has important impacts for West Texas and beyond, as well as building the next generation of leaders through their teaching and learning programs,” he said.
Among those receiving a promotion in academic rank with tenure (effective Sept. 1) are:
Scott Collins | Department of Natural Resources Management | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. The Michigan native’s research focuses on how changes to biodiversity - species extirpations, biological invasions - alter exchanges of resources between land and water. To reveal the underlying mechanisms that shape the structure of aquatic ecosystems, and to identify effective conservation measures, he uses a combination of community- and ecosystem-level approaches, conduct manipulative and natural field experiments, and modeling tools. His doctorate in biology is from Idaho State University.
Whitney Crossland | Department of Animal & Food Sciences | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in animal health and nutritional systems, Crossland’s research program focuses on beef cattle health and nutrition. Her work has primarily featured antibiotic alternatives for the control of liver abscesses in the feedlot. Her work has demonstrated for the first time ever that the bacterial DNA isolated from these infections is also the primary bacterial DNA identified in healthy liver contemporaries. Her doctorate in animal science ruminant nutrition is from Texas A&M University-College Station.
Laura Fischer | Department of Agricultural Education & Communications | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in agricultural communications, the Florida native uses research to best understand how to strategically communicate to target audiences about agriculture and natural resource issues. She’s interested in how individuals form opinions about agricultural sciences, and the types of messages that can be used to inform people. Fischer uses a variety of research methods, such as dial testing, eye tracking, and psychophysiology. Her doctorate in agricultural communications and education is from Texas Tech.
Nathan Gill | Department of Natural Resources Management | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in geography and fire ecology, the Colorado native’s research centers on three broad themes: What a future with more wildfire means for ecosystem functioning and land management; the effects of invasive plant species on fire, and the effects of fire on invasive plants; and the interactions between fire and other ecological disturbances, such as grazing, wind blowdown, and insect outbreak. His master’s and doctorate in geography is from Clark University in Massachusetts.
Haydee Laza | Department of Plant & Soil Science | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in plant physiology, the Cuban native’s research centers on semi-arid agroecosystem functioning across biological, spatial and temporal scales using an integrative transdisciplinary approach. Laza is also interested in plant communication and the use of phytochemicals to improve human health. One of her primary goals is to use applied physiology as a base to establish a collaborative network aiming to identify novel interdisciplinary research gaps. Her doctorate in plant and soil science is from Texas Tech.
Damar Lopez-Arredondo | Department of Plant & Soil Science - Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in plant-soil-microbial interactions, her research interests include the genetic improvement of crops and the development of new agricultural technologies by taking advantage of the genetic diversity in microalgae, using high-throughput screening, genetic engineering, genome mining and bioinformatic approaches. Her doctorate in biotechnology and genetic engineering of plants is from the National Polytechnic Institute-Irapuato.
Muntazar Monsur | Department of Landscape Architecture | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. The Bangladesh native’s research is focused on enhancing the quality of children's lives by improving/modifying environments with special emphasis in schools, preschools and childcare centers. He is an expert in distance education and online course development in the fields of design and is trained in Quality Matters. Monsur recently led a multi-department team using virtual reality and 3D cameras to develop educational programs for childcare providers. His doctorate in design is from North Carolina State.
Gunvant Patil | Department of Plant & Soil Science - Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in molecular crop improvement, his research centers on genetic engineering and integrated approaches for trait discovery and crop improvement. In addition, he’s interested in developing a platform to improve ‘genotype independent' genetic transformations and genome editing systems in major crop species including legumes, fiber and energy crops. His doctorate is from the University of Pune-India.
Matt Siebecker | Department of Plant & Soil Science | Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. An expert in applied environmental soil chemistry, the Massachusetts native’s research focuses on these reactions and how they relate to contaminant mobility and sequestration in soils and sediments. The objective is to understand these fundamental soil chemical reactions at both the macroscopic and molecular scales, and then apply this understanding to assess and remediate field scale problems. His doctorate in environmental soil chemistry is from the University of Delaware-Newark.
In addition, Davis College officials noted the advancement of two other faculty members.
Lindsay Kennedy | Department of Agricultural Education & Communications | Assistant Professor of Practice to Associate Professor of Practice with a Continuing Appointment. Now in her tenth year at Texas Tech, she brings a decade of experience as a communications professional in the agricultural commodity and publication industries to her MILE Program leadership. She teaches The Agriculturist magazine production course and a field-based digital photography course and is co-director of Bridge Adventure. Her doctorate in agricultural communications and education is from Texas Tech.
Rupinder Saini | Department of Plant & Soil Science | Continuing Appointment. A research assistant professor of weed science, she is interested in the development of integrated strategies for weed management in specialty crops. One of research goals is to improve horticultural crop performance by minimizing the impact of weed populations. She’s focused on plant-herbicide interactions, strategic use of cultural practices and equipment to manage weeds, and potential influences of soil and climatic factors on weed growth and development. Her doctorate in weed science is from The University of Adelaide in Australia.
CONTACT: Clint Krehbiel, Dean, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or Clint.Krehbiel@ttu.edu
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