Position Description
Post-Doc Associate:
Crop Model Evaluation and Improvement for Drought Conditions
Agronomy or Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department
University of Florida
 
Job Responsibilities:
 
The person in this position will be responsible for assembling data
sets for use in research on soybean and peanut crop growth models.
The primary objective for the soybean model is an evaluation of its
capabilities to simulate differences in drought tolerance or
avoidance among different cultivars. Experimental research is being
conducted by cooperators in other states, and the person in this p
osition will cooperate closely with them in evaluating different
hypotheses of drought tolerance, using data from their experiments
as well as other data to test the hypotheses. In addition, the incu
mbent will help define cultivar characteristics that should be added
to the crop growth model, using a practical approach that would be
acceptable to plant breeders and agronomic researchers, to simu late
differences in cultivar behavior under different environments.
Sensitivity analysis and an extensive literature review will be
conducted to determine the extent to which cultivar by environment
differences can be simulated. Responsibilities for the peanut model
are to work with data obtained by cooperators on a project from West
Africa and adapt the model to simulate their varieties. In add ition,
the incumbent will help train the cooperators on the appropriate use
of the peanut model in their research programs, including
instruction on protocols for data collection, data analysis for m
odel use, simulations of their experiments, and simulations aimed at
improving management practices and reducing risks in these West
African conditions. Emphasis will be on experiments involving drou
ght conditions and on model evaluations and improvements for
simulating crop growth and yield responses to drought.
 
Qualifications:
 
PhD in Agronomy or Agricultural/Biological/Biosystems Engineering
with strong experience in field research on crops and with some
experience in crop modeling. The person in this position should have
experience in using computers for statistical analysis of data, using
statistical packages, spreadsheets, and graphical packages. The
person must have an ability to program in at least one programmin g
language (e.g., Fortran, Basic, Pascal, etc.), as well as some
experience in programming.  In addition, experience with the
CROPGRO-Soybean and Peanut models or the DSSAT is desirable. The
person s hould have experience in interdisciplinary research, and
must be willing to work on a team in which different researchers
contribute to the success of the program.
 
Dates:
 
The position is available immediately and will be supported for one
year, with a possibility for extension to two years.
 
For more information Contact:
 
Dr. K. J. Boote         or      Dr. J. W. Jones
Agronomy Department             Agricultural & Biological Engineering Dept.
P.O. Box 110500                 P.O. Box 110570
University of Florida                   University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611                   Gainesville, FL 32611
352-392-1811                    352-392-8694
email: [log in to unmask]             [log in to unmask]
 
James W. Jones
Professor
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Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL  32611
 
email:               [log in to unmask]
FAX:                (352) 392-4092
Telephone:        (352) 392-8694
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