Improving Agricultural Water Management in Calcareous Soils with Shallow Aquifer Systems

April 14, 2025 in Seminar

Haimanote ‘Haime’ Bayabil, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, UF

Join us for the livestream April 16th, 11:45am ET: https://youtube.com/live/-eJdPrO1FGk?feature=share

(Please visit our YouTube channel main page for the stream if there are any issues with the direct link.)

ABSTRACT

This seminar will highlight recent advancements in soil hydrologic dynamics and water resources management, focusing on improving agricultural water use efficiency in calcareous soils with shallow aquifer systems. The presentation will explore how enhanced understanding of soil-water-plant interactions through field measurements, process-based modeling, and artificial intelligence can optimize agricultural water management in these systems. Key topics will include soil moisture dynamics, evapotranspiration estimation, salinity, and flooding challenges.

BIO

Dr. Haimanote ‘Haime’ Bayabil is an Associate Professor of Water Resources in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida, based at the Tropical Research and Education Center in Homestead, FL. His research focuses on advancing the understanding of soil hydrologic dynamics at different scales by leveraging emerging technologies, computer model simulations, and machine learning tools to develop applied and science-based soil and water management practices to enhance water conservation and agricultural productivity and protect water quality. He has co-authored more than 73 peer-reviewed journal articles and 24 peer-reviewed factsheets, which have collectively received nearly 2,000 citations. He has served on 18 graduate student committees, including six as chair and co-chair, and has supervised two postdoctoral researchers and nine visiting scholars. His contributions have been recognized with several awards, including the 2024 University of Florida Water Institute Early Career Faculty Fellowship, the 2020 Outstanding Young Researcher Award, and the 2021 Outstanding Young Extension Worker Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Florida Section. He is a Fellow of the Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (LEAP) and currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and the Agronomy Journal. He is also a Review Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science and an Advisory Board Member of Heliyon – Soil science.

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