Faculty Spotlight-Dr. David S. Ross

Dr. David S. Ross, Professor, the Department of Environmental Science and Technology, and extension agricultural engineer, Maryland Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland, was inducted as a Fellow in honor of his distinguished accomplishments as a faculty member, educator and extension specialist by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

For more than 35 years, Ross has provided leadership and extension and educational programs that have contributed to increased productivity, reduced energy consumption, conserved natural resources, and increased market value of crops to improve profitability of growers and industry as a whole. In addition to his extension appointment, Dr. Ross has been an active researcher, classroom educator and guest lecturer. “It is a great honor to be selected for Fellow recognition by my peers,for educational and professional service over many years,” says Dr.Ross.

Dr. Ross currently works with an interdisciplinary team in the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources on water and nutrient management and on a wireless sensor network to provide real-time management data for growers. The objective of his water management program is to improve scheduling of irrigation to match the water holding capacity of containers, reducing leaching and runoff, and to improve irrigation system application uniformity. “Moisture sensors are important tools for managing substrate and soil moisture,” says Dr. Ross. “Sensors connected to wireless communication networks provide real-time management information for the grower.” The development of a low-cost sensor network with a good graphic user interface is a goal of Dr. Ross’s research.

Another project has been the development of a knowledge center for the nursery and greenhouse industries. This knowledge center is an information center for the industries in the states involved in the project. Another component is the development of online teaching modules on water, nutrient and plant health topics. These modules can be used to train both industry personnel and academic students. A UM academic course offers four one-credit mini-courses in the spring semester, a student can take one or all four parts of the course.

Ross Dr. Ross has provided state and regional extension leadership in introducing double poly air-inflated covers, bottom heat, better environmental controls for greenhouses to growers with glass and fiberglass houses in a major effort to save energy during two energy crisis’s, saving the industry over 80 million dollars in 25 years. When trickle/drip irrigation was new, Dr. Ross brought in experts and through demonstrations introduced drip irrigation to a broad audience in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Mid-West USA, a beginning of plasticulture. Micro-screening was demonstrated as an IPM (integrated pest management) tool to reduce pesticides by 50 to 75 percent in greenhouses.

Ross has authored or coauthored more than 800 publications, including research articles, abstracts and proceedings, as well as numerus extension publications and articles. He has also collaborated with others to create web-based courses and online educational modules.

For more information, contact Kintija Eigmina, Web and Communications Coordinator

Last updated: 03/9/2009