Active Technical Portfolios
Precision Breeding & Crop Biotechnology
Diazotrophic Nitrogen-Fixing: Advancing the integration of CRISPR-edited traits in hybrid wheat varieties to optimize root exudates, clearing oxygen from the rhizosphere so diazotrophic microbes can fix nitrogen structurally analogous to alfalfa nodules.
Targeted Nutritional Profiles: Developing specialized low-gluten wheat strains and low-glycemic-index, diabetic-friendly potato varieties to meet targeted market demands.
Geospatial Navigation & Logistics
Optimized Field Logistics: Engineering precision trajectory tracking for harvesting and planting machinery. Focus areas include designing terrain-following, inside-out spiral harvesting models that minimize non-productive travel and mitigate systemic soil compaction.
Managed Aquifer Recharge & Water Markets
"August Water" Frameworks: Capturing surplus springtime surface water for targeted aquifer recharge, establishing a structured credit system to supplement irrigation when August surface flows diminish.
Water Banking Market Models: Architecting functional, incentive-based water market and banking frameworks for the Beryl-Enterprise-Milford basin and the Humboldt River system to reverse critical aquifer depletion.
Terminal Basin Stabilization: Applying grounded engineering precedents from the Owens Lake model to stabilize and manage dust across the ephemeral expanses of the Great Salt Lake.
Live Inside-Out Spiral Trajectory Demo
This interactive component visualizes a continuous, expanding terrain-following path starting directly from a field hub center point, minimizing non-productive turnaround travel.
Field Capabilities & Technical Assets
A data-driven approach requires true execution on the landscape. My operating background directly pairs advanced digital spatial modeling with hands-on machinery operation and civil logistics.
Geospatial Analysis & Digital Modeling
- Geographic Information Systems: Advanced terrain and watershed modeling using open-source QGIS ecosystems.
- Topographic Delineation: Integrating USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle data to analyze precise hillslope orientations.
- Surface Modeling: Generating Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) to project water runoff behavior and machinery path logistics.
Subsurface Analysis & Instrumentation
- Subsurface Profiling: Utilizing physical soil probes to map row-by-row compaction layers and texture anomalies.
- Stratigraphic Analysis: Delineating localized borehole data, water-table drawdowns, and clay profiles to model freshwater lenses.
Heavy Equipment Operation & Civil Logistics
- Excavation & Earthmoving: Hands-on operation of track excavators and wheel loaders for precision site grading and ditch work.
- Site Stabilization: Transporting, spreading, and stacking heavy rock structural elements on engineered building pads.
- Civil Logistics: Operating rock trucks, heavy machinery transport trucks, and coordinating complex material hauling.
Applied Science & Credentials
Academic Background
- Ph.D., Crop & Soil Science – Oregon State University (1991)
Minors: Soil Science, Integrated Geosciences, Remote Sensing, and Statistics - M.S., Soil Science & Agronomy – Oregon State University (1987)
- B.S., Agronomy – Brigham Young University (1979)
NWRA Professional Training
Advanced coursework certified through the Nevada Water Resources Association:
- Quantitative Hydrogeology & Groundwater Flow Modeling
- Estimating Localized Well Field Drawdown & Interference
- Subsurface Geophysical Borehole Analysis
- Contaminant Plume Transport & Tracking in Aquifers
- Western Water Law, Rights, & Water Bank Administration
Field Analysis & Regional Case Studies
Review comprehensive historical field data, including variable grid soil metrics across the Columbia Plateau, Mazama volcanic ash profiles, and localized saline intrusion dynamics along terminal lake basins.
Open Technical Field Notes & Case Studies →