Brian Hill
Brian Hill M.S. is a faculty research assistant focusing on nursery production and precision spray applications. Brian is an Oregon State University graduate with a B.S. in crop and soil science with an emphasis on soil microbiology; and a M.S. in soil physics. His graduate work included installing environmental monitoring equipment and data collection/analysis as part of the OSU Solarization Project from 2016-2018. For his thesis he created a mathematical field model for predicting weed seed/pathogen mortality from soil solarization. With the Nackley Lab, he is translating his soils experience to study soilless media substrates and his passion for instrumention to irrigation research. He is drawn to agricultural innovations. Brian has become the Nackley Lab UAS pilot and helps integrate the Intelligent Sprayer Program into Nursery production systems.
Brian's future plans move his focus in the direction of outreach and extension to increase his engagement with students and growers from the local area; as well as hosting demo trials, for local nursery growers, covering topics including: deficit irrigation, in-ground tree production, nutrient leaching in containers and hemp production.
Dalyn McCauley
Dalyn McCauley is a Faculty Research Assistant focusing on sensor development and sensor-controlled irrigation technologies for nursery production. She completed her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at OSU, and an M.S. in Water Resource Engineering at the University of Idaho. Her thesis work focused on the development of low-cost weather stations to use as on-farm decision support tools for grape Powdery Mildew disease management. She is now developing systems to control and better inform irrigation scheduling for horticulture crops including mini-lysimeter controlled irrigation, soil moisture controlled irrigation, and leaf temperature based crop water stress models.
Melissa Scherr
Dr. Melissa Scherr is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate who received her doctorate in 2010 from Oregon State University in Entomology. Her graduate work focused on aquatic invertebrate community responses to disturbance, primarily in agricultural areas. Currently her work has included evaluating arthropod response to disturbance in forestry focusing on pollinator ecology, community dynamics, and Integrated Pest Management in the Willamette Valley crops
Brent Warneke
Brent Warneke M.S. is a faculty research assistant focusing on horticultural production and precision spray applications. Originally from Colorado, Brent received a BS in Horticultural Science and minor in Business Administration from Colorado State University in 2015. During his BS Brent conducted research on characterizing African landrace sorghum varieties for suitability as bioenergy feedstock, and development of detection procedures for Puccinia punctiformis on Canada thistle, which introduced him to plant pathology. After finishing his BS, Brent came to Oregon State University where he obtained an MS in Plant Pathology in 2018. During his MS, Brent worked on improving fungicide selection and application timing to control Grape Powdery Mildew on grape clusters. Brent puts a high value on the practical application of science to solve problems, and has worked with growers throughout his MS and in his current position on the Intelligent Sprayer project to implement scientific findings and improve agricultural efficiency. Brent’s professional interests include plant pathology, viticulture and specialty crop production, the environmental fate of pesticides and other chemicals, and business and finance. An avid outdoorsman, Brent enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, fishing, camping, mountain biking, skiing/snowboarding, and everything in between.
Lloyd Nackley
Lloyd Nackley Ph.D. is a plant ecologist who brings a systems approach to nursery and greenhouse management research and extension. His program focuses on developing sustainable production practices in an economy and environment characterized by uncertainty. Dr. Nackley brings over 20 years of horticulture experience from a wide range of activities, including public horticulture, landscape design and installation, ecological restoration, as well nursery and greenhouse management. Broadly, he is interested in how natural and controlled environments impact plant growth and development; and subsequently how these interactions influence management decisions, and societies’ ability to sustain essential ecosystem goods and services. His research supports production systems by quantifying, analyzing, and modelling biophysical conditions to provide increased efficiencies for given resources (e.g., water, nutrients, light) or predict detrimental thresholds given certain constraints (e.g., salinity, drought, temperature stress). When not at work he's likely cooking, playing with his family or thinking about his woeful garden, a DIY project or soccer.