Research / Research Programs

Raghavan Srinivasan (Ph.D., Purdue University), is the current Director for the Blackland Research and Extension Center and the Director of the Spatial Sciences Laboratory at Texas A& M University. Dr. Srinivasan is most well-known for his leadership and cooperation with USDA scientists in the development, dissemination, and use of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Dr. Srinivasan is the internationally recognized leader in making SWAT the world’s most widely used and frequently cited watershed-scale hydrology and water quality model over the last 25 years.

Agro-Ecosystem Analysis and Computer Modeling

  • Manyowa Norman Meki (Ph.D., University of Cambridge, UK) uses biophysical models to evaluate best management practices and assess environmental impacts of potential grain, biomass, and oilseed cropping systems.

Hydrologic Systems Computer Modeling

  • Jaehak Jeong (Ph.D., University of Texas) develops and applies hydrologic computer models to evaluate the impact of management on urban, agricultural, and natural landscapes.
  • Javier Osorio Leyton (Ph.D., Virginia Tech) develops and calibrates SWAT model to assess feasibility of biofuel feedstock production in Hawaii under different climatic/environmental/management situations; develops and tests SWAT routines for locally prevalent hydrological processes in Hawaii; and integrates a farm scale SWAT irrigation support model (under development) to the calibrated whole island SWAT model and conducts scenario runs.
  • Luca Doro (Ph.D., University of Sassari, Italy) collaborates with the modeling team led by Dr. Lee Norfleet (US Natural Resources Conservation Service) to build a database that includes general and crop parameters for regional model calibration. Provides support in simulation output analysis and collaborates in the development of the EPIC and APEX model.
  • Jimmy Williams (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) develops and applies computer modeling technology to evaluate impacts of management practices on watersheds and impacts of on-farm management decisions on environmental quality.
  • Tadesse Abitew (Ph.D., Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) develops and applies hydrologic and remote sensing-based energy balance models to evaluate the impacts of land use and management practices on water resources at multiple landscape scale. Currently he is contributing to a US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funded project on soil erosion and salt transport modeling in rangelands.
  • Jungang Gao (Ph.D., Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) develops and applies hydrologic models from the field to the national scale to assess the impacts of conservation practices on water resources.
  • Seonggyu Park (Ph.D., Colorado State University) is interested in the development of hydrologic models for identifying present and future water resources management. He specializes in assessing spatial-temporal patterns of interactions between groundwater and surface water using a coupled SWAT-MODFLOW model and optimizing SWAT and MODFLOW linkage.

Water Science – Quality and Monitoring

  • June Wolfe (Ph.D., Baylor University) conducts hydrology and water quality field research and monitoring by examining the impacts of land management on bacteria, nutrient, and sediment accumulation and transformation in streams.
  • Anish Jantrania (Ph.D., Clemson University) develops innovative and affordable solutions for sustainable water, wastewater, and solid waste treatment processes.