49th Annual Irrigation Society Conference
New Technologies and Developments in Irrigation
About our Speakers
Dr. Robert von Bernuth
Dr. Robert von Bernuth is currently Education Director of the Irrigation Association. In that role he had updated, written, and edited several irrigation books and manuals for junior college and university faculty and practitioners. He is former Dean of the College of Agricultural and Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University and served on the faculty at the University of Tennessee. He is the author or more than 40 peer reviewed articles, including articles on irrigation sprinkler performance testing and drop ballistics. He began his career at Rain Bird. Dr. von Bernuth has a B.S. in engineering from Colorado State University, a M.S. in Engineering from the University of Idaho, and a PhD from the University of Nebraska. He also earned an MBA from Claremont Graduate University.
Dr. Freddie Lamm
Dr. Freddie Lann is a nationally and international recognized expert on subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) He grew up on a combination livestock-grain farm in central Missouri. He holds a BS and MS from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Agricultural Engineering and received his doctorate in Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University. He has conducted water use efficiency and irrigation systems research for Kansas State University at Colby, Kansas since 1979. In this role as professor and irrigation engineer, Lamm's primary focus is on developing and adapting advanced irrigation technologies such as subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) and in-canopy center pivot sprinkler irrigation for corn production in the Great Plains.
Dr. Chris Gunter
Dr. Gunter is Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at North Carolina State University. He is the Vegetable Production Specialist for the commercial vegetable industry in North Carolina, working with commercial vegetable growers to maintain a high quality of life through the use of integrated, economical and environmentally sound production practices. His main emphasis is with the Solanaceous (tomato, pepper) and Cruciferous (cabbage, broccoli) cropping systems. He is a co-chair of the North Carolina Fresh Produce Safety Task Force. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his B.S. in Horticulture at Purdue University.
Dr. Ron Heiniger
Dr. Ron Heiniger received a Ph.D. in Crop Ecology and Simulation Modeling from Kansas State University in 1994. He has received the Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Research Award from the Crop Science Society of America for modeling grain fill in sorghum. Dr. Heiniger's applied research programs in the areas of precision agriculture and remote sensing at North Carolina State University have received national recognition. He also conducts irrigation and water management research in corn and other field crops. In addition to his research work, Dr. Heiniger is the Corn Extension Specialist for North Carolina.
Dr. Robert O. Evans
Dr. Evans is Professor and Head of the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University. He recently was awarded the Royce J. Tipton award of the American Society of Engineers, which is a lifetime achievement award for "contribution to the advancement of irrigation and drainage engineering". He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and has also won the ASABE Hancor Soil and Water Engineering Award. He has conducted extensive research in drainage and water table management, and also in land application of animal waste. Dr. Evans received his B.S., M.S. and PhD degress in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from NC State University.
Mike Mills
Mr. Mills is the Southeast territory manager for Reinke Manufacturing, a large manufacturer of center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems. He has experience in both turf and landscape irrigation and agricultural irrigation. Mr. Mills teaches classes for the Irrigation Association (IA).