Department website: http://agriculture.wvu.edu/
Christopher M. Ashwell, Division Director of Animal and Nutritional Sciences
e-mail: christopher.ashwell@mail.wvu.edu
Sven Verlinden, Division Director of Plant and Soil Sciences
e-mail: sverlind@wvu.edu
Degrees Offered
- Master of Science
- Doctor of Philosophy
Nature of the Program
The master of science allows maximum flexibility in courses and research problems. Students may major in animal physiology, applied and environmental microbiology, entomology, environmental, soil and water sciences, genetics and developmental biology, horticulture, nutrition and food science, or plant pathology. A master of science degree is available as a thesis or coursework option. Research problems in plants and animals of agricultural importance, laboratory organisms, and human subjects form the basis for many studies, but a comparative approach is emphasized. The school offers the registered dietetic certification (RD) preparation internship program to qualified students as a component of the nutritional and food science master of science program.
A student seeking admission to work toward the degree of doctor of philosophy in the School of Agriculture and Food may choose from one of the following majors: animal, food, and nutrition sciences, genetics and developmental biology, or plant and soil science. Within these major fields of study, specialization is limited only by the range of competencies in the graduate faculty.
A limited number of graduate research assistantships are available to highly qualified students on a competitive basis.
Faculty
Director
- Christopher M. Ashwell - Ph.D. (Wake Forest University)
Functional Genomics - Sven Verlinden - Ph.D. (Purdue University)
Horticulture, Post Harvest Physiology, Molecular Biology
Professors
- Vagner Benedito - Ph.D. - (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
Genetics and developmental biology, plant genomics, functional genetics and plant physiology - Kenneth P. Blemings - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin)
Nutritional Biochemistry - Scott A. Bowdridge - Ph.D. - (Virginia Tech)
Food animal production, parasite immunology - Mirjana Butalovic-Danilovich - Ph.D. (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Extension Specialist, Consumer Horticulture, Master Gardener Program Coordinator - Rakesh Chandran - Ph.D. (Virginia Tech)
Weed management in horticultural systems, IPM, Innovative strategies for weed control - Robert A. Dailey - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin)
Reproductive Physiology - Cindy Fitch - Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve University
Dietetics - Jason Hubbart - Ph.D. (University of Idaho-Moscow)
Fresh water supply regimes, Biogeochemical cycling, and ecohydrology - Jacek Jaczynski - Ph.D. (Oregon State University)
Food science and technology - P. Brett Kenney - Ph.D. (Kansas State University)
Meat Science - Hillar Klandorf - Ph.D. (British Council for National Academic Awards)
Physiology - Kristen E. Matak - Ph.D. (Virginia Tech)
Food science and human nutrition - Louis M. McDonald - Ph.D. (University of Kentucky)
Soil Science, Soil Chemistry - Joseph S. Moritz - Ph.D. (Kansas State University)
Nutrition and feed manufacture - Daniel Panaccione - Ph.D. (Purdue State University)
Plant Pathology, Mycology, Mycotoxins, Molecular Biology - Yong-Lak Park - Ph.D. (Iowa State University)
Entomology, Geospatial Ecology of Insects, Integrated Pest Management, Spatial Interaction between Insect and Plant Diseases - Jeffrey Skousen - Ph.D. (Texas A&M University)
Soil Science, Land Reclamation, Soil and Water Conservation, Watershed Restoration - Robert L. Taylor, Jr. - Ph.D. (Mississippi State University)
Immunogenetics of Poultry Disease Resistance - James A. Thompson - Ph.D. (University of Minnesota)
Soil science, Pedology, and Land use - Janet C. L. Tou - Ph.D. (University of Toronto, Canada)
Nutrition in bone health and chronic diseases - Matthew E. Wilson - Ph.D. (Iowa State University)
Reproductive Physiology - Jianbo Yao - Ph.D. (McGill University)
Functional genomics
Associate Professor
- Kimberly M. Barnes - Ph.D. (University of Nebraska)
Lipid metabolism - Eugene E. Felton - Ph.D. (University of Missouri)
Animal science and ruminant nutrition - Michael Gutensohn - Ph.D. - (University of Cologne, Germany)
Plant biochemistry and genetics, metabolic engineering, plant-insects interactions - Matthew Kasson - Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University)
Forest pathology, fungal-insect interactions, fungal phylogenetics - James B. Kotcon - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin)
Plant Pathology, Agroecology, Nematology, Organic Farming Practices - K. Marie Krause - Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Ruminant nutrition - Ember Morrissey - Ph.D. - (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Environmental microbiology - Melissa D. Olfert - Dr.P.H., M.S., R.D. (Loma Linda University)
Human Nutrition and Foods - Kevin Shaffer - Ph.D. - (West Virginia University)
Livestock Production - Cangliang Shen - Ph.D. (Colorado State University)
Safety of meat and fresh produce - Melissa D. Ventura-Marra - R.D., Ph.D. (Florida International University)
Diet related health disparities - Nicole Waterland - Ph.D. (Ohio state University)
Horticulture, Flower Senescence - Eugenia M. Pena-Yewtukhiw - Ph.D. (University of Kentucky)
Soil Science - Amy Welsh - Ph.D. (University of California-Davis)
Conservation genetics
Assistant Professor
- Teiya Kijimoto - Ph.D. (Tokyo Institute of Technology)
Evolutionary developmental biology of morphological diversification, Evolution of novel traits - Joseph Lynch - Ph.D. - (Washington State University)
Plant biochemistry - Ibukun Ogunade - Ph.D. - (University of Florida)
Livestock production - Carlos Quesada - Ph.D. - (Purdue University)
Entomology, Extension specialist - Elizabeth Rowen - Ph.D. - (Penn State)
Entomology
Research Associate Professor
- Domingo Jose Mata Padrino - Ph.D. (Universidad Central de Venezuela)
Agronomy
Teaching Professor
- Margaret A. Minch - D.V.M. (Ohio State University)
Veterinary Medicine - Crystal Smith - Ed.D. - West Virginia University
Equine management
Teaching Associate Professor
- Nettie Freshour - R.D., Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Dietetics (L.D.N) - Youyoun Moon - Ph.D. (Ohio State University)
Molecular plant science
Teaching Assistant Professor
- Sean Collins - Ph.D. - (University of Cincinnatti)
Freshwater ecology - David Davis - Ph.D. (Virginia Tech)
Landscape, turf, specialty crops - Kelli George - Ph.D. (Florida State University)
Dietetics - Cassandra Lamb - Ph.D. - (Cornell University)
Biochemistry
Service Assistant Professor
- Nikki Byrne-Hoffman - Ph.D. - (West Virginia University)
WVU Campus Food Garden Co-Director
Visiting Assistant Professor
- John Hando - Ph.D. (West Virginia University)
Environmental health and safety specialist, Genetics and developmental biology
Faculty Emeriti
- Barton Baker
- John A. Balasko
- John F. Baniecki
- Bradford C. Bearce
- Alan R. Biggs
- Gary K. Bissonnette
- William B. Bryan
- Linda Butler
- William E. Collins
- Betty J. Forbes
- Mannon E. Gallegly, Jr.
- Thomas C. Griggs
- Henry W. Hogmire
- William H. Hoover
- Robert F. Keefer
- Paul E. Lewis
- William L. MacDonald
- Joseph B. Morton
- M. Zafar Alam Nomani
- Phillip Osborne
- Ronald A. Peterson
- Edward C. Prigge
- John C. Sencindiver
- Alan Sexstone
- Rabindar N. Singh
- Paul M. Smith
- Charles B. Sperow, Jr.
- Wayne R. Wagner
- John Warren
- Richard K. Zimmerman
Adjunct Faculty
- Kayla Bridges - Nutrition and Dietetics
- Jesse Fallon - Veterinary medicine
- Janet Fulton - Animal Genetics
- Joseph Gigliotti - Cellular and molecular physiology
- Michael Glenn - Soil Science
- Ann Hubbs - Veterinary medicine
- Cynthia Huebner - Invasive Plants and Ecology
- Matthew Jenks - Plant and Soil
- Lee Kass - Plant and Soil Sciences, History of Genetics
- Tracy Leskey - Plant and Soil
- Barbara Jean Meade - Veterinary sciences
- Stephen S. Miller - Horticulture
- Donald Nuss - Plant Pathology
- Tong-Man Ong - Genetics
- Dale W. Porter - Toxicology
- Umesh Reddy - Genetics
- George R. Seiler - Veterinary sciences
- Chris Skinner - Nutrition
- Alfred H. Stiller - Chemistry
- Richard Turcotte
- Derek Warren - Nutritional Biochemistry
- Richard Z. Woodworth - Agriculture
- Paul F. Ziemkiewicz - Land Reclamation
- Thomas van der Zwet - Plant Pathology