Georgia agrometeorologist to lead AgWeatherNet
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Hoogenboom |
PULLMAN – Gerrit Hoogenboom, a professor of agrometeorology and crop modeling, has been named the new director of WSU’s Agricultural Weather Network (AgWeatherNet).
Hoogenboom succeeds Gary Grove, professor of pathology, in the position, and will begin his new responsibilities on Aug. 1.
”Gerrit is a seasoned professional with areas of specialty that exactly match the focus of AgWeatherNet,” said Ralph Cavalieri, associate dean and director of WSU’s Agricultural Research Center. ”Gary has built a strong foundation for the future expansion and refinement of the system.”
A Web-based, publicly available system, AgWeatherNet provides access to raw weather data and value-added products from WSU’s statewide weather network, along with decision aids for agricultural producers and other users. It includes 134 weather stations located mostly in the irrigated regions of eastern Washington State, but the network recently has undergone significant expansion in western Washington and in dry land regions of the state.
Hoogenboom currently is coordinator of research, extension and instruction for the department of biological and agricultural engineering at the University of Georgia Griffin Campus, and is a professor in agrometeorology and crop modeling there. His specialty areas include the impact of climate change and variability on agricultural production and water resource use; computer modeling and simulation of agricultural systems; decision support systems and geographic information systems; information technology; agrometeorology and climatology; and automated weather station management and monitoring of weather and environmental variables.
He currently manages the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network, one of the largest automated weather networks in the southeastern United States.
For the past two years, he has served as editor of the journals Climate Research and The Journal of Agricultural Science, and he is the book review editor of the journal Agricultural Systems. He also is a member of the editorial boards for the Brazilian Journal of Agrometeorology and the International Journal of Plant Production.
He earned his doctoral degree in agronomy and soils at Auburn University in Alabama, and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
