Speakers
The Drainage Research Forum includes presentations from a wide variety of dynamic speakers. Below you will find information regarding the speakers at this year’s forum.
Speaker bios and presentation information will be added soon.
Sushant Mehan
Laura Christianson
Dr. Laura Christianson P.E. reviewed and updated the science assessment of the Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy in 2023-2024. She was formerly an Associate Professor of Water Quality in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois and a research engineer at The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute.
Lindsay Pease
Dr. Lindsay Pease is an Assistant Professor and Extension
Specialist in Nutrient and Water Management Specialist with the University of
Minnesota. She is stationed at the Northwest Research & Outreach Center in
Crookston where her research focuses on adapting nutrient and water BMPs for the cold climate and unique crop rotations of the Red River Valley.
Chris Hay
Chris Hay is the owner and principal of Christopher Hay Consulting. With over three decades of experience in academia, consulting, government, industry, and NGOs, Chris specializes in agricultural water management, including irrigation and drainage; hydrology; and water quality. His current focus is on subsurface drainage and mitigating the impacts of agriculture on water quality. He has developed, led, and participated in various applied research, implementation, and educational outreach projects for conservation drainage practices such as bioreactors, saturated buffers, controlled drainage, and drainage water recycling.
Gabe Johnson
Gabe Johnson is a PhD Candidate at Iowa State University co-majoring in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and Sustainable Agriculture. Advised by Dr. Tom Isenhart and Dr. Michelle Soupir, his doctoral research is focused on design and optimization of edge-of-field conservation practices to reduce nutrient loss in tile drainage systems to improve water quality and agricultural sustainability. He is specifically focused on assessing the performance of novel saturated buffer designs and using empirical
data to inform saturated buffer design procedures. He completed his BS in Agricultural Engineering, Land and Water Resources focus, at Iowa State University and an MS in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Joe Otto
Dr. Joe Otto is an independent scholar and commissioner with
the Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District in Iowa. His area of
expertise is the history of agricultural drainage in Iowa. Shortly after
statehood, Iowans began improving their wetland and tallgrass prairie
environments to be better suited for modern agricultural practices. This
effort continues into the present and over time has had a significant impact on the uses of Iowa’s natural resources and the shape of the public institutions designed to manage them. Otto has researched these activities and will share a story on his findings. He holds a BS in History from Iowa State University, an MA in History from Appalachian State University, and a PhD in History from the
University of Oklahoma. He lives in Colfax with his family.
Vinayak Shedekar
Dr. Vinayak Shedekar is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Water Management in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE) at the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He also serves as the Director of the International Program for Water Management in Agriculture (IPWMA) and the Overholt Drainage Education and Research Program (ODERP) in FABE. Dr. Shedekar’s AgWater team works at the intersection of soil health and agricultural water management for water quality and agricultural sustainability. His research and Extension work is focused on:
Extension programs such as the annual Overholt Drainage Schools, a five-day training program on drainage design, installation, and management.
Water management practices such as irrigation, drainage, and drainage water recycling
Soil health and conservation practices for agroecosystem sustainability and environmental quality and climate resiliency
Field- and watershed scale monitoring and modeling of hydrology, water quality, greenhouse gases, and carbon
GIS-GPS applications and developing farmer-friendly decision tools.
Jeffrey Strock
Dr. Strock is a Professor in the Department of Soil, Water
and Climate at the University of Minnesota. He is an expert in soil-water
relations. Dr. Strock’s research activities are focused on diversified cropping
systems/rotational complexity and agricultural drainage water management. He directs a field-based research program focused on vadose zone hydrology,
agricultural drainage, crop response to water, and understanding nutrient
mobility, uptake, storage, transformation, and losses in agricultural systems.
More specifically, he seeks to understand how variations in climate and land
use drive physical, chemical, biological, and ecological water and nutrient cycling in agricultural landscapes, with emphasis on nitrogen and phosphorus. Dr. Strock’s approach strongly relies on plot and field-scale experiments, and statistical models to characterize mechanisms, processes, and solutions that
result in productive, profitable, sustainable, and resilient agricultural systems.
Spencer Pech
Spencer Pech is a Civil Engineer at ISG specializing in producing data-driven water quality and agriculture drainage solutions for ISG’s water resource team. Applying knowledge gained from his personal experience growing up on a family farm, formal education, and professional career, he designs drainage systems, storage basins, wetlands, and edge-of field practices for ISG’s agriculture and watershed partners throughout the Midwest.
Steven Hall
Steven Hall is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to UW, he was a faculty member at Iowa State University, and he has degrees from the University of California-Berkeley and UW-Madison. His research and extension focus on understanding and managing soil processes to improve the climate and water quality impacts of agriculture.
Jeppe Kjaersgaard
Jeppe Kjaersgaard is a Research Scientist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). He grew up on a family farm in Denmark and has worked on grain and livestock farms in Denmark, New Zealand, and the United States. His research and outreach activities are focused on water and nutrient management in irrigated or drained crop production systems, including documenting benefits of irrigation and drainage conservation practices such as saturated buffers. He is the current Chair for the Conservation Drainage Network.