Graduate Students

Current Students:

Eric Wilkening (M.S. student)

Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Eric Wilkening’s roots in agriculture are strong as he is the 7^th generation at his family’s farm near Arlington, NE. Following the completion of his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he is pursuing a master’s degree in the same field. As an undergraduate, Eric worked on multiple irrigation research projects with topics ranging from system performance to advanced scheduling techniques. With interests in water resource conservation, irrigation system performance, and extension outreach programs, Eric’s graduate research is involving the in-field implementation and performance analysis of models combining irrigation and fertigation management under the advisement of Dr. Derek Heeren. You can read about one of Eric's projects here.

Jamie Duan (Ph.D. student)

I received my bachelor’s degree in Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at Hohai University, Nanjing, China. I had a deep recognition of the worldwide water shortage and pollution from my undergraduate study, which inspired my determination to continue research of hydrology and water resource as a master's student. I did my master’s degree at Texas A&M University, where I participated in ecohydrology research. My master’s thesis was “Influence of land-use change and agriculture practices on water, carbon, and energy fluxes.” However, many problems that appeared in my graduate research told me that I should dive deeper into research to get to the solutions. I received an opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I am now co-advised by Dr. Daran Rudnick and Dr. Derek Heeren.

Suhib Hamid (M.S. student)

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Agriculture in 2016 from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. After my graduation, I worked as a lab assistant at the soil laboratory at the University of Khartoum (2016 – 2017). Through this year I gained a lot of knowledge about soil, water, and plant analysis. I’m very interested in technology and using GIS, remote sensing, and mapping in soil analysis. Since 2017 I have been working for Zadna, a company that is interested in establishing and developing agricultural projects specialized in horticultural, animal, and crop production. During this period, I implemented the soil surveys for most of the Zadna agricultural projects in different locations across Sudan. I received an opportunity to pursue an M.S. in Mechanized Systems Management, in the department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, under the supervision of Dr. Derek Heeren.

Hakam Almagzoop (M.S. student)

I completed my undergraduate degree in Forestry Science from the University of Khartoum (Sudan). I am working for Zadna, a company that is interested in establishing and developing agricultural projects specialized in horticultural and animal production and crop production. I implemented and followed up on various horticultural projects in different locations in Sudan. In recent years, Zadna focused on importing center pivot irrigation systems from Valmont Industries (Omaha, NE) to contribute to the development of irrigation systems used, the preservation of water resources, and the utilization of the vast arable lands in Sudan. I am starting a master's degree in Mechanized Systems Management in the BSE department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under the supervision of Dr. Heeren.

Alumni:

Sandeep Bhatti, Ph.D.

Sandeep did his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Engineering at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India. During this degree, he developed specific interests in irrigation engineering, water conservation, watershed management, groundwater storage, and related subjects. He decided to pursue his master's degree and received an opportunity at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under the supervision of Dr. Derek Heeren. He graduated with his M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering in December 2018, with the thesis "Variable rate irrigation using a spatial evapotranspiration model with remote sensing imagery and soil water content measurements." Sandeep went on to complete his Ph.D. with Dr. Heeren, with the dissertation "Thermal sensing for automated irrigation management of maize and soybean in Nebraska." He is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Massachusetts. (More on Sandeep's story here and more on Sandeep's project here.)

Pradhyun Kashyap, M.S.

Suresh Pradhyun Kashyap completed his bachelors in Agricultural Engineering from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Telangana, India. With an interest in research related to the areas of irrigation and GIS-based approaches for precision technology, he came to UNL to pursue an M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering, co-advised by Dr. Derek Heeren and Dr. Wayne Woldt. He graduated in December 2021, with the thesis “High-frequency unmanned aircraft flights for crop canopy imaging during diurnal moisture stress.” Pradhyun is currently a GIS Specialist for the On-Farm Research Network at UNL. Learn more about his project here.

Jasreman Singh, Ph.D.

Jasreman (Jas) completed his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Engineering from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India, where he developed an ardent desire to focus on sustainability of water resources and adoption of effective irrigation systems. He recieved his M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering from UNL under the supervision of Daran Rudnick. He went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering, coadvised by Yufeng Ge and Derek Heeren. His overall goal was the advancement of irrigation technologies across Nebraska through remote sensing and integrated sensor network systems. Jas graduated in December 2021 with his dissertation "Design and evaluation of unmanned aerial system-based wireless sensor network for irrigation management." Jas is currently a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar at the University of Missouri. Learn more about his story here.

Ankit Chandra, M.S.

Ankit is a graduate from Banaras Hindu University, India with a major in Agricultural Engineering. After he completed his degree, Ankit ran an Ag-tech startup, Farmanze, which solved grass-roots-level farmers' problems related to ag-mechanization, ag-inputs and marketing access. His interests in the water-energy-food nexus and irrigation business models brought him to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ankit graduated with his M.S. degree in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering in August 2020, with his thesis "Water-energy-food linkages in shared smallholder irrigation schemes." Ankit was coadvised by Nick Brozovic, Derek Heeren, and Lameck Odhiambo. Ankit is currently a Program Associate at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. Learn more about Ankit here.

Mavuto Banda, M.S.

After completing his undergraduate degree in Irrigation Engineering from the University of Malawi, Mavuto Banda worked in industry doing design and management of irrigation and water supply systems. After realizing the urgent need to utilize the scarce water resources in a sustainable manner, he pursued graduate school through the Advanced Water Management for Food Production program, which is offered jointly by the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands and the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska. Mavuto graduated in May 2019 with his M.S. in Mechanized Systems Management, with his thesis "Economic analysis of deficit irrigation in sugarcane farming." Read this paper to learn more about his research, or read this article to learn more about his story. Mavuto is currently a Ph.D. Student at Cranfield University, England.

Jingjing Li, M.S.

Jingjing completed her master’s degree in Hydraulic Engineering from China Agricultural University (Beijing, China) in June 2019. She studied at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for one year which was supported by the China Scholarship Council. She performed research under the supervision of Haijun Yan (CAU) and Derek Heeren (UNL), with her thesis entitled "Effect of different nitrogen fertigation managements on crop growth, water and nitrogen movement for center pivot irrigated maize in the sub-humid area of Northeast China." You can read her conference paper here. She currently works at the Intellectual Property Office, Henan Province, China.

J. Burdette Barker, Ph.D.

After finishing his B.S. and M.S. from Utah State University, Burdette spent almost three years working with an irrigation engineering consulting firm. Burdette graduated with his Ph.D.in Biological Engineering in May 2017 with the dissertation "Spatial irrigation management using remote sensing water balance modeling and soil water content monitoring." Burdette was coadvised by Derek Heeren and Christopher Neale, and also worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate under their supervision. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Utah State University.

Mumba Mwape, M.S.

Mumba Mwape is very passionate about improving the livelihood of small scale farmers in her home country of Zambia. She graduated with her M.S. in Mechanized Systems Management in May 2017 with her thesis "Selection and design of irrigation systems in Zambia." Mumba was in our double degree program with the University of Nebraska Water for Food Global Institute and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands. She is currently an Agricultural Research Officer, Ministry of Agriculture, Lusaka, Zambia.

Himmy Lo, M.S.

Tsz Him (Himmy) Lo graduated with his M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering in July 2015 with the thesis "Quantification of variable rate irrigation benefits and spatial variability in root zone water holding capacity." He went on to complete his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from UNL with his dissertation "Water and nitrogen interactions in maize production." Currently he is an Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University in Stoneville, MS.

Ryan Freiberger, M.S.

Ryan used Hydrus 2D/3D to model infiltration, macropore flow, and solute transport, and graduated with his M.S. in Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering in December 2014 with the thesis "Single- and dual-porosity calibration and long-term modeling of highly conductive floodplain soils in the Ozark ecoregion." He is currently an Envrionmental Engineer with AECOM in Omaha, NE.