Crop Physiology Research Laboratory

Our group is passionate about understanding how crops grow and thrive in different agricultural systems. We bring together researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, growers, and industry professionals with diverse backgrounds to collaborate, share insights, and drive progress in crop physiology.

Explore our page to learn more about our latest discoveries and exciting projects that we are currently working on.

Research

Our research program covers every step of crop production from planting through harvesting. We typically conduct small-plot cotton and other field crops research with fifty or more independent irrigation treatments and 2000-4000 individual plots each year. Our research plots are located at the Quaker Avenue Research Farm and New Deal Research Farm.

Throughout the growing season, we closely monitor crop growth and development using advanced techniques and technologies to gather data on plant health, water use dynamics, resource partitioning, fruiting patterns, and responses to environmental conditions.

Our research group specializes in box and plant mapping techniques to accurately track the dynamic patterns of cotton boll distribution across diverse management strategies.

We believe that the most impactful research happens at the intersection of diverse perspectives and expertise. We actively foster collaboration among researchers across different fields within our department, across various departments at Texas Tech University and other institutions, as well as with our industry partners.

Selected Publications

People

Lab PI

Glen Ritchie, Ph.D.
Professor of Crop Physiology
J.A. Love Endowed Chair
PSS Department Chair

Email: glen.ritchie@ttu.edu
Phone: (806) 834-4325

See Faculty Profile

Lab PI

Irish Lorraine Pabuayon, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor

Email: irish-lorraine.pabuayon@ttu.edu
Phone: (806) 500-4491

See Faculty Profile

Current Lab Members

Alemar, Zelalem Ph.D. Student zalemar@ttu.edu

Best, Benjamin Master's Student Benjamin.H.Best@ttu.edu

Bicaldo, Jessica Joy Ph.D. Student jbicaldo@ttu.edu

Lab Alumni

Bablu Sharma, Ph.D.
Curtis Schaefer, Ph.D
Nothabo Dube, Ph.D.
Chase Snowden, Ph.D.
Fulvio Simao, Ph.D.
Kelsey House
Nick Macha
Luke Obenhaus
Robert Ballesteros

Outreach & Engagement

We are deeply committed to engaging with the community by sharing our research through field days and interactive demonstrations. These events provide a valuable opportunity to showcase our latest studies and discoveries, allowing students, producers, and the ag community to directly experience the practical applications of our work. Our group is also actively involved in organizing the annual State FFA Agronomy Contest.