Two longtime faculty in the department retired this fall: Garry Grabow and Rod Huffman.

Garry Grabow’s expertise has spanned across 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.

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. Grabow served 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.

Rod Huffman specialized in the area of groundwater, water quality and hydrology. He began his time at NC State as an assistant professor in 1989, and was promoted to associate professor in 1985.

Over the course of his time in the department he was twice awarded the BAE Outstanding Teacher Award and recognized by ASABE with a President’s citation and the ASABE certificate of appreciation.

He was an active member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, the American Geophysical Union, the National Groundwater Association, and the North Carolina Irrigation Society.

Some of his research includes studies on the contribution of groundwater to the overall budget of a wetland resoration project, and studies on swine lagoons in coastal plain sites. Much of his work focused on groundwater and groundwater quality as well as alternative methods of irrigation for efficient and healthy turf.