NRES-Affiliated Faculty
Faculty affiliated with the Natural Resources and Environmental Science program represent a wide range of disciplines at Purdue. The following faculty members teach in the NRES program, provide research opportunities and mentor NRES students.
Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Keith Cherkauer
Professor Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Area of expertise: Environmental and Natural Resources
765.496.7982
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Shweta Singh
Associate Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering
765.494.1162
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Agricultural Economics
Michael Delgado
Professor of Ag Economics, Agricultural Economics
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Thomas Hertel
Distinguished Professor
Area of expertise: Economics and global agriculture, environment and trade
765.494.4199
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Juan Sesmero
Professor of Agricultural Economics
765.494.7545
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Gerald Shively
Assc Dean/Director IPIA/Prof AGEC, International Programs in Agriculture
Area of expertise: Agricultural and applied economics Research interests: Connections and interactions between poverty and environmental degradation to make global food production more environmentally sustainable.
765.494.4218
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Agricultural Sciences Education & Communication
Natalie Carroll
Professor of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication
Area of expertise: Natural resources curriculum development for youth audiences Research interest: Extension and engagement with a focus on informal youth education in natural resources and the environment.
765.494.8439
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Linda Pfeiffer
Associate Professor of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication
Research interests: Systemic factors that affect the construction and effective translation of messages to engage the public in scientific issues.
765.496.1890
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Agronomy
Laura Bowling
NRES Director & Professor of Agronomy
Area of expertise: Land management on water quality and quantity
765.494.8051
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Sylvie Brouder
Wickersham Chair/Professor of Agronomy
Area of expertise: Crop Nutrition, Soil Fertility
765.496.1489
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Cliff Johnston
Professor of Agronomy & EAPS
Area of expertise: Soil Chemistry
765.496.1716
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Eileen Kladivko
Professor of Agronomy
Area of expertise: Soil Physics, Soil Health and Management
765.494.6372
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Linda Lee
Professor of Agronomy & EEE/Interim Assistant Dean of Agriculture
765.494.8612
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Richard Grant
Professor of Agronomy
Area of Expertise: Applied Meteorology Group
765.494.8048
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Gary Steinhardt
Professor of Agronomy
Research interests: Long term tillage plots; strip preparation plots; crop residue studies
765.494.8063 (cell)
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Jeffrey Volenec
Professor of Agronomy
Research interests: Aims to understand how crop plants adapt to stress and to develop strategies that enhance plant productivity and resilience. His work includes perennial species that must endure the heat and drought of summer, but also must survive stresses associated with winter and still thrive. He teaches AGRY 52500 "Crop Physiology and Ecology" that focuses on processes influencing crop growth and development, mechanisms underlying stress tolerance, and how management and genetics can be used to improve adaptation and performance.
765.494.8071
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TOny Vyn
Professor of Agronomy
Research interests: Cropping systems, Tillage
765.496.8071
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Animal Sciences
Paul Ebner
Professor of Animal Sciences
Area of expertise: Microbiology
765.494.4820
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Marcos Fernandez
Professor of Animal Sciences
Area of expertise: Small Ruminant Production (Goats and Sheep); Nutritional Physiology
765.494.8016
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Biochemistry
Jennifer Wisecaver
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
765.494.4157
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Botany & Plant Pathology
Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi
Assistant Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology
Area of expertise: Plant development and disease resistance Research interests: Mechanisms underlying disease resistance in plant roots to soil borne pathogens.
765.494.1443
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Scott McAdam
Assistant Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology
Research interests: Stomatal evolution; evolution of the hormone abscisic acid; evolution of xylem My lab investigates the evolution of plant water use and drought tolerance. Specifically we are interested in understanding the key innovations that were responsible for plants colonizing dry environments over the past 450 million years. https://ag.purdue.edu/btny/mcadam
765.494.3650
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Chris Oakley
Assistant Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology
Research interests: Ecological and evolutionary genetics of plants: genetic basis of local adaptation and the consequences of genetic drift for adaptation and population persistence.
765.494.9644
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Earth Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences
Nathaniel Lifton
Associate Professor and Associate Head
Area of Expertise: Geomorphology and Quaternary geology, in situ cosmogenic nuclides. Research interests: Studies of in situ cosmogenic nuclide production systematics, and applications to Earth surface processes in glaciated landscapes and deserts, paleoclimate, and active tectonics.
765.494.0754
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Entomology
John Couture
Assistant Professor of Entomology
765.494.8680
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Matthew Ginzel
Associate Professor of Entomology and Forestry and Natural Resources
Research interest: Chemically-mediated host colonization and mating behaviors of wood-boring beetles, which increasingly threaten North American hardwood forests.
765.494.9369
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Laura Ingwell
Research Assistant of Entomology
765.494.6167
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Ian Kaplan
Professor of Entomology
Area of Expertise: Insect ecology. Research interests: The ecology, behavior and management of pest and beneficial insects in Midwestern agroecosystems.
765.494.7207
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Environmental & Ecological Engineering
John Howarter
Associate Professor Materials Engineering /Environ And Ecological Engineering
765.496.3103
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Food Science
Yaohua (Betty) Feng
Assistant Professor of Food Science
Area of expertise: Human Perception and Behavior of Food. Food Safety Research and Extension interests: Risk assessment and communication to enhance microbial safety of foods; using interdisciplinary tools to investigate gaps in food safety practice compliance and develop novel food safety strategies.
765.494.0331
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Jen-Yi Huang
Assistant Professor of Food Science
Area of expertise: Food process sustainability Research interest: Green food processing techniques to improve energy and water use efficiency towards environmental sustainability; life cycle-based models to elucidate the complex of food-energy-water relationships and their dynamics.
765.496.6034
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Forestry & Natural Resources
Paris Collingsworth
Research Assistant Professor
Research interests: Ecosystem dynamics in the Laurentian Great Lakes
317.886.7449
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John (Barny) Dunning
Professor of Wildlife Ecology
Areas of expertise: Avian ecology, conservation biology Research interests: How native wildlife species are affected by changes in the quality and quantity of habitat across landscape scales; environmental education and interacting with the public on natural resource issues.
765.494.3565
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Jeff Dukes
Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources and Biological Sciences, Director of Purdue Climate Change Research Center
Area of expertise: Climate change Research interests: How ecosystems respond to climate and atmospheric change; impacts of invasive species on ecosystems; improving the capacity of ecosystem and Earth system models to accurately represent ecological processes.
765.494.9461
Elizabeth (Liz) Flaherty
Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Habitat Management
Area of expertise: Wildlife habitat management Research interests: Wildlife associations with habitat and applying the results to wildlife management using both field- and laboratory-based research to study wildlife ecology.
765.494.3567
Reuben Goforth
Assistant Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources
Research interests: Aquatic animals and their habitats, including aquaculture; interactions between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; fates and effects of pollutants; appropriate management practices for the protection and use of aquatic ecosystems.
765.494.0009
Doug Jacobs
Fred M Van Eck Professor of Forest Biology and Associate Head of Extension
765.494.3608
Zhao Ma
Associate Professor of Natural Resource Social Science
Area of expertise: Natural resource decision making; human dimensions of natural resources Research interest: Natural resource decision-making processes of individuals and organizations.
765.496.2422
Richard Meilan
Professor of Molecular Tree Physiology
Research interest: Ecology of natural systems; forest biology; genetics
765.496.2287
Bryan Pijanowski
Professor of Human-Environment Modeling & Analysis Laboratory
Area of expertise: Socio-ecological systems
765.495.2215
Michael Saunders
Associate Professor of Ecology and Natural Resources
Research interests: Sustainable management of Central Hardwood forests; natural disturbance-based silviculture; fire ecology of oak-hickory forests; effects of silvicultural practices on wood quality and timber value.
765.430.1440
Maria (Marisol) Sepúlveda
Professor of Ecology and Natural Systems and Associate Head of Research
Area of expertise: Ecotoxicology
765.496.3428
Mitchell Zischke
Clinical Assistant Professor
Area of expertise: Fish and marine biology Extension interests: Connecting anglers, scientists and managers in Great Lakes fisheries; assisting with private landowners in Indiana with pond management.
765.494.9717
Horticulture & Landscape Architecture
David Barbarash
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
Area of expertise: Urban design and urban ecology Research interests: Urban ecology, systems ecology and associated socio-cultural impacts of environmental factors in the built environment.
765.496.3887
Steve Hallett
Professor of Horticulture
Area of expertise: Plant ecology Research interests: Ecology of plant pathogen interactions: development of bioherbicides for weed control; mechanisms of herbicide resistance; ecology of the interactions between weeds and soil microbial communities in agricultural and natural systems.
765.494.7649
Peter Hirst
Professor of Horticulture
Area of Expertise: Pomology Research interests: Tree architecture; fruit development.
765.494.1323
Lori Hoagland
Associate Professor of Horticulture
Area of expertise: Microbial ecology of horticultural systems Research interests: Soil microbial ecology and plant-microbial relationships to address challenges of feeding the world’s growing population, including soil and water degradation, rapidly evolving pests and increasing climate instability.
765.494.1426
Linda Prokopy
Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department Head
Research interests: Understanding how to motivate individuals to adopt environmentally-friendly practices
765.496.2221
Ariana Torres
Assistant Professor and Marketing Specialist
Area of Expertise: Agricultural economics – decision-making modeling Research interests: The intersection of economics and the specialty crops industry: economic modeling of adoption of new technologies; decision making tools for specialty crop growers; economic impact of growers’ decision-making processes.
765.494.8781
Aaron Thompson
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
Area of Expertise: Using applied social-ecological science to achieve better decision making at the interface of land use planning and natural resource management His research explores what motivates landowners to engage in conservation efforts, uses spatial analysis and geodesign techniques to visualize and respond to changing land use, and identifies pathways for improving stakeholder participation across three primary areas, including: landscape preservation and stewardship, human dimensions of water resource management, and sustainable community development.
765.494.8781
Liberal Arts
Robert Marzec
Professor of English
Specialization: Contemporary British & Postcolonial Literature Research interests: The relationship between literature, the environment, the history of colonial and postcolonial cultures, subjectivity, and land relations
765.494.3759