From November 6-9th, I had the opportunity to present my honors thesis work at the ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. This is an accomplishment I would not have been able to achieve without the help of Dr. Ben Runkle
Author: Ellie Kuhn | Major: Biological Engineering
My name is Ellie Kuhn, and I am a senior, currently pursuing a BS in Biological Engineering with a minor in Sustainability within the College of Engineering. For the past year and a half, I have been working with Dr. Benjamin Runkle in the Biological Engineering department, where I have created mathematical crop prediction models for rice fields throughout Arkansas and the different factors that influence sustainable agricultural practices. The collected data includes growing degree days (GDD), canopy height, and leaf area index (LAI). This research has introduced me to practical applications of my biological engineering course work, such as exposure to sustainable agricultural practices, data modeling and analysis, and technical reporting analysis.
After spending much of the Summer 2021 writing the majority of my thesis, my advisors and I decided it was time to begin the defense process. My defense committee consisted of Dr. Beatriz Moreno-García (Dept. of Biological Engineering), Dr. Brian Haggard (Dept. of Biological Engineering), Dr. Kusum Naithani (Dept. of Biological Sciences), and Dr. Benjamin Runkle (Dept. of Biological Engineering). We met on September 22, where I presented my final defense for my thesis. After completing the defense, the committee agreed the oral presentation was finished, but my written thesis document still needed some additional work.
Throughout the remainder of the semester, I met weekly with my post-doctoral advisor, Bea, as well as the larger research group, including faculty, post-graduate students, graduate students, and other undergraduate students from my department. I have enjoyed discussing different scientific journal articles relevant to the group’s work. Also, I was continuously challenged throughout the past two semesters to push myself to better understand the greater impact of this work to the larger research community. Over the summer, I submitted an abstract of my research and was accepted to present at the 2021 ASA, CSSA, and SSSA International Conference under their undergraduate research symposium program (SASES, Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences). From November 6-9th, I had the opportunity to attend this conference in Salt Lake City, UT. The primary topic of discussion for this conference was creating an effective economy for sustainable development by bringing together the leading and emerging scientific leaders from industry, government agencies, and academic institutions working to advance agronomic, crop, soil, and other related sciences. Since other members of my research group, including my honors thesis advisor, have attended this conference in the past, they thought it would be an excellent opportunity for me to attend and acquire some exposure to an official scientific conference. This conference allowed me to connect and interact with others who want to further the success of agronomy and other environmental sciences.
As we are putting the final touches on my written honors thesis document, I will continue to work with my thesis advisor to turn this into a paper published in a scientific journal before graduating in next semester in May. Upon graduation, I am hoping to pursue a career in ecosystem restoration engineering and design. Although I am not wanting to go into sustainable agriculture, I will always be extremely grateful for all I have learned while working with Dr. Benjamin Runkle and Dr. Beatriz Moreno-García.