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2023 Featured Speakers

Featured speakers for the 2023 NCSS National Conference.


Dr. Sarah Beebout, USDA Agriculture Research Service 

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Dr. Sarah Beebout is the National Program Leader for Sustainable Intensification with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), based in Beltsville, Maryland. Her passion is improving the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of food and agriculture systems, including crops, livestock, and people. She has been with ARS since 2019, following 15 years in sustainable cropping systems research at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. She grew up in Iowa and received her B.S. in chemistry from Wheaton College in Illinois, her M.S. in soil chemistry from Texas A&M University, and her Ph.D. in soil science from Cornell University. She has in-depth experience working in multiple cultures within the U.S. and during her time in Asia.


Dr. Meyer Bohn, University of Iowa

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Meyer Bohn is a postdoctoral researcher with the Geospatial Laboratory for Soil Informatics headed by Bradley Miller at Iowa State University (ISU). Meyer specializes in digital soil mapping, pedology, geomorphology, and environmental process modeling. He also coaches the ISU soil judging team. A native of Bismarck, North Dakota, Meyer received his B.S. in environmental science from Dickinson State University and his M.S. in soil science from North Dakota State University. He completed his Ph.D. in soil morphology and genesis at Iowa State University in August 2022. In his free time, Meyer enjoys hunting, fishing, and pickin’ on his six-string.


Suzann Kienast-Brown, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil and Plant Science Division, National Soil Survey Center

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Suzann Kienast-Brown is a soil scientist and the national GIS specialist at the National Soil Survey Center for the USDA NRCS, Soil and Plant Science Division. She began her career with NRCS in 1997 as a student intern while finishing her bachelor’s degree in soil and water science from Utah State University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in pedology at Utah State University under Dr. Janis Boettinger, applying digital soil mapping techniques to production soil survey in the desert of Utah. As an NRCS soil scientist, Suzann has focused on exploring, developing, testing, implementing, and integrating GIS, remote sensing, and digital soil mapping techniques into local, state, national, and global soil survey activities. She leads the national Digital Soil Mapping Focus Team and oversees digital soil mapping activities in the Soil and Plant Science Division. She is also a co-lead for the Dynamic Soil Survey Focus Team.


Dr. Andrew Clark, State Historical Society of North Dakota

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Andrew Clark is the Director of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and Deputy SHPO for the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Clark’s research interests include the archaeology of conflict and peace, public archaeology, and technological applications to cultural resource management, including remote sensing and analyzing drone-acquired aerial photos. Working for the South Dakota State Historical Society, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and private consulting companies, he has spent most of his career working in the northern Plains but has also conducted archaeological investigations in 15 states and two countries. Andrew holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Dakota, a master’s from the University of Memphis, and a doctorate from the University at Albany, State University of New York.


Dr. Robert Colter, USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C.

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Robert Colter is the new national soils program leader for the USDA Forest Service for the National Forest System. He started his Forest Service career in 2002 in the Shawnee National Forest (R9) as a GS-9 term soil scientist. Afterward, he moved to the Inyo and Eldorado National Forests (R5) as a permanent GS-11 soil scientist. While there, Colter was introduced to BAER and treatment effectiveness, along with range, forest, and OHV management. In 2005, he accepted a GS-12 forest soil scientist/ecologist position in the White Mountain National Forest (R9). In this position, Colter continued his education in forest and recreation management, along with an introduction to forest soil nutrient depletion due to acid deposition. Also, he served as watershed program manager and climate change coordinator while in this position. 

Colter has participated in multiple opportunities to broaden his forest management outlook along with a better understanding of the Forest Service, which included line officer duties for seven months and acting Forest Management Group Leader with Northeastern Area State and Private overseeing the Forest Stewardship, Urban and Community Forestry, Tree Improvement and Watershed Management and Resource Conservation programs across the 7-state field office area.

Colter has a broad educational background consisting of a B.S. in general agriculture, an M.S. in plant and soil science, and a Ph.D. in forest ecology.

His interests are in forest management, emphasizing doing what’s right on the ground based on what the soils and ecology tell us, developing partnerships to build capacity, achieving common goals, and incorporating new technologies to maximize time on the ground.


Dr. Tom DeSutter, North Dakota State University

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Dr. DeSutter received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from South Dakota State University (Brookings, South Dakota) in 1994 and 1998, respectively, and his Ph.D. in 2004 from Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas). After completing a Post-Doc with the USDA ARS (Ames, Iowa), he was hired in 2006 as an Environmental Soil Scientist by the Department of Soil Science at North Dakota State University (Fargo, North Dakota). His primary research interests are saline and sodic soils, reclamation of energy-extraction-impacted soils, and instrumentation for measuring soil physical and biological parameters. DeSutter teaches Soil and Land Use and Environmental Field Instrumentation and Sampling.


Dr. Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat, North Dakota State University

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Bernhardt Saini-Eidukat is a geologist who uses a geochemical perspective to work on earth materials. He has expertise in X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, and related analytical tools. Bernhardt earned B.S. degrees in geology and geophysics and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Minnesota on the potential for platinum group element deposits in the Duluth Complex. After post-doctoral work in Austria studying ore deposit potential in Finland and Russia, he joined North Dakota State University, where he is currently a professor. He teaches a wide variety of courses, including many domestic and international field courses.


Dr. David Franzen, North Dakota State University

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Dave Franzen was born outside of Chicago, Illinois, and received his B.S. (75), M.S. (76), Ph.D. (93) from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in forest soils, M.S. in soil fertility, and a Ph.D. in soil chemistry. He worked as an agronomist and manager for a chain of fertilizer retail locations in Illinois for about 18 years before coming to North Dakota State University (NDSU) in his present position as Extension Soil Specialist. He is now a Professor of Soil Science in the School of Natural Resource Sciences at NDSU. His research has focused on soil sampling and the use of active-optical sensors for site-specific nutrient management, field research leading up to the revision of all fertilizer recommendations in the state, and the examination of non-conventional products for their use by farmers. His work is highly tied to no-till management and the prevention of soil erosion from wind, with North Dakota as the only state with an N credit for long-term no-till management. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and has received many awards for his work during his 29 years at NDSU.


Jay Fuhrer, Burleigh County Soil Conservation District, Menoken Soil Health Farm

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As a long-time conservationist growing up in the Dakotas on a small grain and livestock farm, Jay Fuhrer built a career taking care of the soil. 

Working at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service from 1980 to 2020 in Bismarck, North Dakota, Jay particularly enjoyed working from the pickup end gate on the field edge with a spade and the client. Conservation planning one field at a time. 

Currently, Jay spends his time supporting soil health efforts through the Menoken Farm. The Menoken Farm is a conservation demonstration farm and Jay’s favorite place to work. Here, the five soil health principles can be applied while monitoring plants, animals, and soils.


Dr. David Hopkins, North Dakota State University

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David Hopkins earned a B.S. in agricultural science-soils from Montana State University in 1979, and he worked for the Soil Conservation Service in eastern Montana on the Carter and Fallon County soil surveys. In 1981, Hopkins began working on intensive soil surveys for the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. His M.S. degree in sodic soils was followed by a Ph.D. due to an interest in teaching. Hopkins taught Intro Soils Science for 14 years, Soil Genesis since 2005, and a one-week intensive Field Soils Interpretation course that has been offered since 2013. Since 2015, Hopkins has focused on soil micromorphology as a proxy for soil health on the benchmark Barnes soil.


Dr. Jingyi Huang, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Dr. Jingyi Huang is an assistant professor of soil physics at the Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Huang's research interests focus on integrating proximal and remote sensing data and models to improve the understanding of soil water, carbon, nutrient, and energy cycles across scales for sustainable natural resources management. Dr. Huang currently leads several projects on high-resolution mapping and modeling of dynamic soil properties such as soil moisture and carbon stocks and soil greenhouse gas emissions for Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry.


Dr. Nic Jelinski, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

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Dr. Nic Jelinski is an assistant professor of soil science in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. His teaching responsibilities include Basic Soil Science, Field Study of Soils, and Soil Judging. His research interests are centered around urban soils and permafrost-affected soils, enhancing access to soil information, and improving teaching and outreach for soil science in higher education and to the public. He has lived and worked around the world in land management for state (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and federal agencies (Department of Defense, National Park Service) as well as the private sector (Alliant Energy). He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.


Jason Kenworthy, USDI National Park Service, Colorado

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Jason Kenworthy is a geologist with the National Park Service Geologic Resources Division in Lakewood, Colorado. He has been with the division since 2005. Since 2018 he has served as the Geologic Resources Inventories coordinator overseeing a team charged with providing nearly 300 parks baseline geologic and soils map data, information, and resource management-focused reports. However, he is not a total stranger to soil and agriculture. Jason started his federal career with USDA Agricultural Research Service in the Soybean Genomics and Improvement Laboratory and worked with the University of Maryland soybean breeding program.


Dr. Carrie Laboski, President, Soil Science Society of America

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Dr. Carrie Laboski is a soil scientist and research leader at the Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit in University Park, Pennsylvania. Her research is focused on improving the sustainability and resilience of agroecosystems through improved soil fertility and nutrient management practices. Her research interests include improving nutrient use efficiency of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from fertilizer and animal manure; soil fertility issues related to lime, secondary, and micronutrients; and evaluation of soil and plant diagnostic tests. Previously, Dr. Laboski was a professor and extension specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she developed educational materials, programs, curricula, and decision-making tools for farmers, crop advisors, and regulatory agencies. Dr. Laboski is president of the Soil Science Society of America. Her expertise has been sought after to serve on state and national committees related to nutrient management policy.


Dr. Mark Liebig, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, North Dakota

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Mark Liebig is a research soil scientist with the USDA ARS, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory near Mandan, North Dakota. For the past 23 years, Mark has contributed to research seeking to develop soil, crop, and animal management practices for the Great Plains to overcome limitations to productivity while enhancing environmental quality. As a team member, Mark leads research to quantify management effects on soil properties and greenhouse gas emissions. As a supplement to core responsibilities, Mark develops decision aids and evaluation tools for producers, conservationists, and scientists and regularly contributes to research networks within and outside USDA ARS.


Dr. David Lindbo, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil and Plant Science Division Director, Washington D.C.

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Dr. Lindbo directs the soil and ecological site survey, research, and interpretation programs for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. He has spent his career working on land use soils relations, including soil interpretations, hydric soils, wastewater, and related issues. He has worked extensively with K-12 students and teachers regarding soils and land education. He has authored and co-authored numerous research and extension publications, including practitioner training materials related to decentralized wastewater, low-impact development issues, hydric soils, and hydropedology, as well as a general interest soil book for young children “Soil! Get the Inside Scoop” and an advanced book “Know Soil, Know Life.” He has over 130 publications (not including abstracts), has given over 200 invited presentations, and taught well over 10,000 professionals in his array of extension courses.

Dr. David Lindbo, Ph.D., NCLSS, CPSS:

  • Soil and Plant Science Division Director, USDA NRCS (2015 to present)
  • Professor Emeritus Soil Science Department, North Carolina State University (1995-2015)
  • Former president of the Soil Science Society of America (2012-14)
  • Fellow Soil Science Society of America (2009)
  • Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Plant and Soil Science Dept. 
  • M.S. from the University of Massachusetts, Geology Dept.
  • M.S. from the University of New Hampshire, Forest Resources Dept.
  • B.S. from the University of New Hampshire, Institute of Natural and Environmental Resources

Dr. David Lobb, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 

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David Lobb is a professor of landscape ecology in the Department of Soil Science at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He studies soil erosion and sedimentation processes and how they impact our soil and water resources. He is internationally recognized for his research in tillage translocation and tillage erosion, particularly for his advances in experimental methods and modeling. David is active in several national and international organizations focused on soils.


Dr. Ron McCormick, USDI Bureau of Land Management, Washington D.C.

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Dr. McCormick is a classically trained field naturalist who came to embrace the ecology of complex systems in his late thirties and has never looked back. With an educational background in soil science, forestry, hydrology, and botany, Ron’s early work experiences ranged from the woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to the hills of southeastern Oklahoma to nearly all of Florida. It was in Florida where he first referred to himself as an ecologist and formed a deep and lasting land ethic. 

After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Ron vowed to never again enroll in any college, anywhere. Yet, his experiences in Florida had shown him there were still things to learn about ecology. In 1994, he moved to Madison to start on a ‘piled higher and deeper’ degree. One year later, he was deeply disillusioned with the dark side of academia and considered a return to consulting in Florida. But his office mate suggested he sit down with Dr. Timothy F.H. Allen, the godfather of hierarchy theory – perhaps the most underrated yet important contribution to systems science and ecology alike. Seeing no downside, he walked into Tim’s office. Thirty minutes later, he was officially one of Tim’s new graduate students, and the rest, as they say, is history. His decades of thinking about and applying systems theory to social-ecological problems have led him to the Real Green New Deal – what society desperately needs at this critical juncture. His day job is as an ecologist for the Bureau of Land Management’s headquarters office.


Dr. Owen McKenna, USDI Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, North Dakota

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Owen McKenna is a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown, North Dakota. Dr. McKenna’s research is focused on applying a mechanistic understanding of how wetland ecosystems respond to changes in climate and land use in support of both migratory-bird habitat management and water quality and water quantity issues in agricultural and grassland landscapes of the Northern Great Plains, Midwestern United States, and Southcentral Canada.


Ed Murphy, North Dakota Geological Survey

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Ed Murphy has a B.S. in geology and an M.S. in geology from the University of North Dakota. He began working for the North Dakota Geological Survey in 1977 as a summer temporary employee and went full-time in 1980. He has served as North Dakota State Geologist for the last 19 years. He has published hundreds of Geological Survey maps and reports on various aspects of Williston Basin geology, including surface geology, geohazards, hydrology, coal stratigraphy, and, most recently, critical minerals.


Dr. Dannele Peck, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Northern Plains Climate Hub, Colorado

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Dr. Dannele Peck is the director of the Northern Plains Climate Hub within the USDA Agricultural Research Service, based out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Trained as an agricultural economist, Dr. Peck focuses on farm-level decision-making under risk and is a co-author of the Fourth and Fifth National Climate Assessments. Raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York, Dannele was the first person in her family to earn a college degree, but happily, not the last! For the past 20 years, she has called Laramie, Wyoming, home.


Dr. Craig Rasmussen, University of Arizona 

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Dr. Rasmussen is a professor of soil science in the Department of Environmental Science with over 20 years of experience working in ecosystems ranging from Southwestern deserts to alpine forests and grasslands. He has performed extensive research on soil formation, soil organic carbon cycling and sequestration, mineral weathering, and predictive soil mapping.


Dr. Jonathan Sanderman, Woodwell Climate Research Center

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Dr. Jonathan Sanderman’s work focuses on the role that soils can play in climate mitigation and sustainable food production. He strives to understand the processes that add, remove, and transform carbon in soils, ranging from coastal marshes to tropical forests and working farmlands. Throughout his career, he has uncovered under-recognized complexity in soil carbon reservoirs. Dr. Sanderman’s research encompasses both place-based, experimental work and large-scale computer modeling. Currently, much of Dr. Sanderman’s attention is focused on developing high-quality, cost-effective methods for measuring soil carbon to support carbon markets in the agricultural sector. He works with a diverse group of partners and collaborators in industry, academia, and environmental advocacy.


Dr. Darrell Schulze, Purdue University

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Darrell Schulze is a professor of soil science in the Agronomy Department at Purdue University, where his research and teaching focus primarily on soil mineralogy, chemistry, and pedology. In addition to his work in the U.S., he has conducted research in Germany, Brazil, Kenya, and Peru. He currently teaches a dual-level (graduate/undergraduate) course titled Soils and Landscapes that combines the traditional approach of studying pedons with a soil geomorphology approach in which students use detailed maps of soil properties on iPads in the field to learn how soil properties vary across landscapes. He developed and maintains the SoilExplorer.net website and mobile apps as part of his current interest in soil landscape visualization.


Dr. Kevin Sedivec, North Dakota State University

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North Dakota State University Extension Rangeland Management Specialist, School of Natural Resource Sciences Professor, and Central Grasslands Research Extension Center Director

Kevin received his B.S. in zoology in 1987, M.S. in animal and range sciences in 1989, and Ph.D. in 1994 in animal and range sciences from North Dakota State University. He started his career at North Dakota State University as the State Extension Rangeland Specialist in 1989 and Central Grasslands Research Extension Center Director in 2016.

His current research and extension programming focuses on adaptive grazing management strategies to improve livestock production while enhancing ecosystem services for pollinators and wildlife and studying disturbance ecology to increase biodiversity across the landscape – both above and below ground. He has also been involved with land reclamation related to energy development and has been the North Dakota leader for youth programs related to range judging and range youth camps since 1990.

He has authored or co-authored 87 peer-reviewed journal articles, 66 Extension circulars, 216 popular press articles, and over 1,000 professional talks.


Dr. Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College 

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Dr. Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. She is also descended from the Fort Peck Sioux and Assiniboine. She has gardened and gathered traditional foods and medicines with her family her entire life. Currently, she serves as the Food Sovereignty Director at Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College and is senior researcher personnel for the University of Montana. Other projects she also works on include a project to digitize her tribal college’s special collections, develop the traditional seed cache, and develop a consortium of Indigenous-led research along the Missouri River Watershed.


Marina Skumanich, NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System, Boulder, Colorado 

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Marina Skumanich is a program specialist with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and coordinator of the National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (NCSMMN), a multi-agency and multi-institutional initiative to integrate soil moisture data from around the country and to capitalize on its transformative potential for a wide range of natural resource applications, including drought, flooding, wildfire risk, and agricultural and ecosystem management. Marina has focused her career on using scientific and technical information to create effective public policy. Prior to NIDIS, Marina served as principal of Skumanich Consulting, which provided environmental program management and assessment services in both the government and nonprofit sectors. Before that, Marina was a senior research scientist at the Battelle Seattle Research Center’s Environmental Policy and Management Program. Marina has an M.S. in environmental science and technology policy from MIT and a B.S. in chemistry.


Dr. James Thompson, West Virginia University

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Jim Thompson is a professor of soil science in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences at West Virginia University. He received a B.S. in agronomy from Penn State University in 1990, an M.A. in geography from Ohio State University in 1992, and a Ph.D. in soil science with a minor in water resources from the University of Minnesota in 1996. Following faculty appointments at the University of Kentucky and North Carolina State University, he moved to West Virginia University (WVU) in 2004. The emphasis of his research, education, and outreach efforts is to improve our understanding and representation of soil geography and to investigate how differences in soils affect land use decision-making and environmental quality. At WVU, he teaches courses on soil judging, wetland environments, soil survey and land use, soil genesis and classification, and forest soils. His current research incorporates mapping, modeling, and monitoring techniques to inventory ecological sites and assess dynamic soil properties. Within the National Cooperative Soil Survey, in addition to working closely with partners in the NRCS and the Forest Service, he is a co-lead of the Digital Soil Mapping Team, a member of the Communications and Outreach Team, co-chair of the Soil and Ecosystem Dynamics Committee, and a member of the International Committee on Subaqueous and Aquic Soils (ICOMSAS).


Dr. David Toledo, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, North Dakota

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David Toledo is a rangeland scientist with the USDA ARS in Mandan, North Dakota. His research focuses on ecosystem health evaluation, the human dimensions of rangeland management, and finding ways of optimizing land management practices under changing climate and land-use scenarios. David’s work has resulted in improvements to rangeland sampling techniques used in the USDA NRCS National Resources Inventories, in the integration of pastureland and rangeland monitoring and assessment methods, and in determining the socio-ecological factors affecting the use of prescribed fire in Texas and North Dakota. At the 2023 NCSS conference, David will discuss long-term research efforts at the USDA ARS Northern Great Plains Research Lab aimed at developing management practices that enhance ecosystem function and resilience under projected climate change scenarios.


Dr. Luis Tupas, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Deputy Chief for Soil Science and Resource Assessment, Washington D.C.

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Dr. Louie Tupas is the Deputy Chief for Soil Science and Resource Assessment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Dr. Tupas provides leadership for addressing the scientific basis for conservation and sustainable agriculture through research, national surveys of soil, snow, water, and other natural resources, inventories of U.S. natural resources and their ecological transitions, and analyzing the impact of conservation practices, including soil, water, and climate studies. He also provides national leadership to address global change and climate impacts on agriculture, forestry, and other landscapes, develop and expand climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, and enhance the sustainable utilization of agricultural working lands and waters. He also develops and implements strategies for sustainable natural resources utilization and environmental systems management and promotes domestic and international partnerships and engagement through collaborative research, education, and outreach programs. 

Louie served as a faculty member at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 1991-2002. His research and teaching careers were in the fields of biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, aquaculture, and biological oceanography. He began his federal government career in 2002 as a program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation. In 2004, he joined USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, now known as the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). He served at NIFA as a national program leader, division director, and deputy director for Bioenergy, Climate, and Environment. He joined NRCS in 2020. His responsibilities include being the NRCS Research and Scientific Integrity Officer and co-executive leader of the USDA Climate Hubs.


Dr. Skye Wills, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil and Plant Science Division, National Soil Survey Center

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Skye Wills is the national leader for soil research at USDA NRCS, Soil and Plant Science Division’s (SPSD) National Soil Survey Center. The SPSD provides national leadership to NRCS’ soils program and the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) Program. The research branch is working to develop new techniques in Dynamic Soil Survey, including soil health, soil moisture, and other properties and interpretations that change over time. Skye’s previous work includes the Rapid Carbon Assessment project (a national soil carbon inventory) and the Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health project (cooperators using soil surveys and ecological sites to organize soil health measurements). She’s a proponent of reproducibility and open science to maximize the impact and accessibility of soil data. Skye has degrees from Kansas State University in agronomy and from Iowa State University in soil morphology and genesis and has worked in agronomy, semi-arid rangelands, and tidal marshes across the country.