TEAM MEMBERS
Haimanote Bayabil, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Water Resources
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department
Tropical Research and Education Center
University of Florida
hbayabil@ufl.edu | 786-217-9253
Dr. Haimanote Bayabil's research and extension program at UF/IFAS TREC primarily focuses on developing practical and sustainable water management practices that conserve water and improve water quality in agricultural and urban areas.
Syed Shaham ‘Sam’ Madni
Visiting Research Scholar
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Tropical Research and Education Center
Research Interests
Sam has an MS in software engineering and a BS in is in computer science and has several years of multidisciplinary industrial work experience in electrical, electronics, and computer science domains. His research interest includes precision agriculture, applications of sensors and IoT in agriculture, and big data analytics.
Fikadu Getachew
Doctoral Student
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Research Interests
Fikadu's research interest is in detecting a proxy of drought indices from surface and satellite observations using crop simulation modeling approaches. His current research looks into the effects of supplemental irrigation and shifting planting dates to mitigate climate change impacts on sorghum production.
Kelsey Vought
Doctoral Student
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Co-advised with Prof. Ana Martin-Ryals
Research Interests
Integrating hydrologic and data sciences with agriculture, Kelsey seeks to address global energy-food-water demands through Controlled Environment Agriculture. Her current research is in developing novel irrigation water treatment and reuse processes which aim to achieve pathogen disinfection, nutrient recovery, and energy savings. Kelsey aspires to bring food and water security to urban communities both locally and internationally.
Doctoral Student
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Research Interests
Fitsum's research interests focus on hydrologic modeling, river basin management, surface, and groundwater interaction modeling, climate change impact studies, remote sensing hydrology, land cover change detection and scaling, and precision agriculture. Currently, he is working on a research topic, entitled “Evaporation Trend Over South Florida”.
Fitsum Tilahun
Bewuket Tefera
Doctoral Student
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Research Interests
Water resources management, hydrological data analysis, groundwater monitoring, and modeling; contaminant transport modeling, modeling seawater intrusion and its impacts on agricultural soils. Current research focuses on investigating the effects of agricultural soil salinity due to seawater intrusion on soil hydrological processes and nutrient transport.
Thais Souza, Ph.D.
Visiting Research Scholar
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Tropical Research and Education Center
Research Interests
Dr. Souza is an Assistant Professor of Agronomy at the University Federal of Pernambuco, Brazil. Her current research investigates the effects of different soil management practices on soil moisture, runoff, and erosion dynamics of two semi-arid watersheds in Brazil.
Saroop Sandhu, Ph.D.
Research Coordinator II
Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department
Tropical Research and Education Center
Research Interests
Dr. Sandhu holds a PhD degree in Agronomy with a Soil and Water Sciences minor from the University of Florida. His current duties as a Research Coordinator include but are not limited to coordinating the work of multidisciplinary teams to complete projects related to soil and water resources research; managing and conducting field and lab work to complete research projects that need the use of new techniques and tools; reviewing design reports, plans, research proposals, and manuscripts that may require the use of new data analysis techniques or methodology; training students and interns on the use and operation of specialized equipment, research methodology, or technology; and staying current on new technologies, emerging techniques, software programs, and instrumentation.
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Christian Bartell (Engineer I)
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Abdelmoneim Z. Mohamed, Ph.D. (Ag Scientist IV)
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Ashok Alva, Ph.D. (Engineer I)
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Reginald Nicholas Sylney (Intern)
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Stephanie N Torres (Intern)