Event Speakers

Dr. Thomas J. Trout
Research Leader and Supervisory Agricultural Engineer
USDA – Agricultural Research Service – Water Management Research Unit

Mr. Trout’s general research area is soil and water management in irrigated farming systems. Specifi c research emphases include engineering efficient surface and micro-irrigation systems; soil, water, and management factors that aff ect infiltration rates and water distribution uniformity under irrigation; determining crop water requirements and good irrigation practices for horticultural crops; modeling and reducing irrigation-induced erosion; reducing energy use in microirrigation systems; and developing systems and management practices to apply soil fumigants through drip irrigation systems.

Recently Mr. Trout’s research has been focused on developing alternatives to soil fumigation with methyl bromide includes developing methodologies and management practices that use drip irrigation systems to deliver alternative fumigants with maximum efficacy and minimum risk, developing farming systems approaches to methyl bromide fumigation that include tillage, cropping, water and nutrient management, and pest management practices, and selecting packages of alternative management practices most likely to succeed and assisting growers to evaluate these practices on a large scale. Other experiences includes teaching and developing a laboratory manual for soil and water engineering, teaching irrigation design for international short courses, and developing improved methodologies and equipment for precision open channel flow measurement and recording.

Mr. Trout attended Case Western Reserve University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He continued his graduate level education at Colorado State University where he received his M.S. and PhD in Agricultural Engineering (Soil and Water).