On Wednesday faculty, students, and staff – both past and present – celebrated Dr. Garry Grabow’s 20 years of contributions, at one point serving at interim department head, to the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and to the field at large.

His expertise has spanned acrosss land application of animal and industrial wastewater, irrigation systems and irrigation water management, and water quality monitoring. He has provided training to operators of animal waste systems and operators of surface irrigation systems for land application of waste, and also to certified irrigation contractors.

His research interests include irrigation water management, land application of waste and water quality impacts of various land application systems. He has been involved in applied research projects to evaluate the effectiveness of several “smart” irrigation technologies in turfgrass in both research and residential arenas. He has also led research in subsurface irrigation systems for use in both freshwater and wastewater applications.

Prior to his time at NC State, Grabow worked for an irrigation district in California and spent 10 years in private water resources consulting. He has previous experience with international consulting including water reuse projects in the Middle East.

Grabow’s work with industry has been recognized by the NC Cooperative Extension Foundation and awarded the NC State Grange Search for Excellence Award in 2011. Dr. Grabow serves as Technical Advisor to the North Carolina Irrigation Society and is the UNC University System appointed member to the North Carolina Irrigation Contractor’s Licensing Board.