The goal of my research and extension scholarship is to generate and disseminate research-based information that helps stakeholders to maintain or enhance long-term agricultural productivity while also improving social and environmental outcomes of agriculture. Through applied social science research and information dissemination, I help to inform sound conservation and agronomic programming and policy decision making and planning. Much of my current activity consists of work on interdisciplinary and integrated (research, extension, education) grant-funded projects. These projects generate information that assists stakeholders to develop more resilient agricultural systems that minimize environmental impacts and increase ecosystem services.
Current Projects
Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll
I am Director of the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll (IFRLP), an annual panel survey of Iowa farmers. The IFRLP project is a year-round effort to help stakeholders who work with farmers to develop and answer research questions and generate information that improves the effectiveness of their programs and policies. I work closely with ISU faculty from diverse departments (e.g., Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Agronomy, Entomology, Natural Resource Ecology and Management) and with major stakeholders (e.g., Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources) to help them identify and articulate research questions focused on the major challenges and issues that they face.
Supporting Diversificationf of Agriculture
Many of the grants and projects I work on have a major focus on diversification of agriculture. Mounting evidence shows that diversification through rotations that include crops in addition to corn and soybeans and integration of livestock grazing systems into operations can have diverse benefits such as improved soil health and disruption of insect pest and weed cycles. Over time, diverse agricultural systems can increase economic and ecological resilience and productivity. Check out my work on the USDA-funded $10M Diverse Corn Belt Project for recent examples of research and extension work in this area.
Water Quality
Multiple projects have collected and analyzed data to inform progress on the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (INRS) From 2015 to 2019 I led the INRS Farmer Survey project, a five-year farmer survey that focused on: (1) measuring farmer knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to nutrient management and nutrient loss into waterways, (2) identifying barriers to and facilitators of behavior change that reduces nutrient loss, and (3) measuring changes in these over time. The survey effort is finished, but data analysis and reporting is ongoing. We have published INRS-related technical reports and journal articles from the survey data. I am currently working on three additional projects funded by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center.
Renewable Energy
Several of my current and past projects center on renewable energy and ways that development of distributed renewable energy systems can help increase farm and rural community resilience and economic vitality.
- Distributed wind and solar for rural resilience and vitality. This project is a partnership with colleagues at the National Lab of the Rockies and University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We are examining farmer perspectives on the feasibility of varied technologies (wind, solar, biodigesters) at multiple scales (farm, community, utility). The project is also focusing on the potential of agrivoltaics in Iowa.
- Grass2Gas: This 6-year (2020-26), $10M project was funded by USDA-NIFA to examine the feasibility of developing systems that produce sustainable biogas and co-products through anaerobic digestion of herbaceous biomass combined with manure.
The STRIPS Project
Since 2008, I have been a collaborator on the Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairies (STRIPS) project. This is a long-term research and extension collaboration among an interdisciplinary team of researchers, educators, and extension specialists who are studying the impacts of strips of prairie strategically integrated within row-cropped agricultural landscapes. The overall goal of the project is to promote targeted integration of native, perennial vegetation into agricultural landscapes to maintain agricultural productivity (e.g., through soil erosion control, increasing beneficial insect populations) while enhancing ecosystem services (e.g., by improving water quality and wildlife habitat). I have published a number of technical reports that help to inform STRIPS project activities.
Sustainability in the Curriculum
Between 2022 and 2025, I directed a project evaluating student, faculty, and staff perspectives on sustainability in ISU's curriculum. Research included survey and focus group research with students and a survey of faculty and staff. The reports are available here:
Student Perspectives in Sustainability at Iowa State University
Sustainability at Iowa State University: Faculty and Staff Perspectives
Climate Change
Much of my research and extension work focuses on climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture. The Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll survey, in particular, has been an important resource for informing outreach to help make agricultural systems more resilient while reducing GHG production. I am co-PI on the Integrated Midwest Partnerships for Actionable Climate Tools & Training (IMPACT2) project. From 2011 to 2017, I was lead social scientist for the Climate Change, Mitigation, and Adaptation in Corn-Based Cropping Systems Project (CSCAP). The CSCAP project was a $20 million interdisciplinary integrated research-education-extension partnership between 50 PIs from 10 major public universities and USDA ARS-Columbus, Ohio. From 2016 to 2019 I was co-PI on a USDA NIFA AFRI grant called Understanding and Building Capacity to Address Changing Water Availability in the Upper Corn Belt. This project was a partnership with PI Mae Davenport at University of Minnesota. The three-year project’s goal was to better understand how planners, policymakers, and agricultural producers anticipate, respond, and adapt to changing water availability for agriculture in Iowa and Minnesota.