The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
ANNUAL REPORTING FORM
 
Neal Eash, Associate Professor
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
Annual Performance Period: January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007


A. SUMMARY AND IMPACTS.

1. Summary. Provide an overall summary (500 words or less) of your accomplishments during the reporting period.

In the past year I have secured $139,315 in extramural funds collaboratively with four other researchers in two other departments. This money will be used to engage students in experiential learning in Jamaica, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uganda.
During the year we completed work on Soil Science Simplified the fifth edition of which I am first author. This text will be available for purchase in late March 2008. Three papers written by a former graduate student have been submitted, one of which has been accepted for publication.
This past year I traveled to Guatemala twice, once as co-leader of a student group; the Guatemala work is supported by a generous gift from an alumnus. I also traveled to Africa twice, once on money secured by a UT Ready for the World grant as well as funds made available for the UT/TSU/UTIA Africa initiative.

2. Impacts. List up to three significant impacts of your program. Impact statements should be one to three sentences and should be written in a way that would be meaningful to the public.

1. 143 students gained knowledge in soil science representing 609 class credits; this represents tuition monies totalling approximately $121,000 (using a $200/credit as an estimate).
2. Papers have been submitted (one accepted) from my M.S. graduate student that finished last year.
3. By collaborating with departmental colleagues a MOU was developed with the National University of Lesotho, UT, UTIA, and Tennessee State University.


B. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (EXTENSION, RESEARCH AND TEACHING). As applicable, list title, names of participants (PIs, Leaders, Co-PIs, Co-leaders, Collaborators etc.), project number, sponsor, your role ( leader/co-leader/collaborator) and your percent effort on the project as stated in the project description or document.

1. LIBS research with the Korean Institute of Highland Agriculture. Co-leader. 75% effort.
2. Carbon and Phosphorus Cycling in Soil. PI: Eash, Project number TEN00304, USDA-CSREES Hatch--CRIS Project. 30% effort.
3. Agricultural Production and Community Needs in the Guatemalan
Highlands. Co-leader with Walker, Logan, Robbins, and Orr. 5% effort
4. Rainwater harvesting for water supply in the Guatemalan Highlands.
Co-leader with Walker and Johnson. 5% effort


C. INSTRUCTION, TEACHING AND EXTENSION EDUCATION. Detail credit and non-credit instruction and teaching activities.

1. College credit instruction. List courses in which you were an instructor or guest lecturer during the current calendar year. Include special topics, independent study and internship courses. Provide course number and title, your involvement, semester(s), credit hours and number of students. Please append a summary of teaching evaluations (student and/or peer) if this information is available.

Course number and title Involvement Semester Credit
hours		 Number of
students
ESS220 Waters and CivilizationsGuestSpring367
ESS120 Soils & Civilizations (Cultures & Civ)*CoordinatorFall379
ESS210 Introduction to Soil ScienceTotalFall493

2. Formal continuing education (certification programs, seminar series, in-service training, field days, faculty and/or staff training, journal club, etc.). Provide descriptive title of activity, your involvement, number of participants or students involved, number and duration of each session.

Descrip. title, including dates Involvement Number of students
or participants		 Number of
sessions		 Duration of each
session (hours)
Agricultural Production and Community Needs in the Guatemalan Highlands, UTIA International Agriculture Advisory Board Meeting, December 12 2007Team2510.5
New International Minor, UTIA International Agriculture Advisory Board Meeting, December 12, 2007Team2510.5
The Challenges Facing Conservation Agriculture, Field day, Tebellong, Lesotho. March 23, 2007Team20011

3. Extension presentations and workshops. Indicate title, type, and scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
Soils of LesothoInternational1135 
No-till machineryInternational111 

4. Public addresses to lay audiences (TV/radio presentations, service groups, etc.). Indicate title, type, scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
       

5. Presentations at professional meetings, without published abstracts. List presenter, co-authors (if any), title, date and name of meeting (list scientific oral or poster presentations having published abstracts or proceedings at D5).

6. Student mentoring. Fill in the boxes to indicate number of students in each category.

Level of students No. of students advised No. of active graduate committees on which you served as:
Major professor Committee member
Undergraduate 20     
Masters   2  1 
Doctoral   1   

7. Student or commodity club activities (e.g. club advisor, team competitions, honor or professional societies, etc.). List the club or group; your role with the club or group; and the activities, honors or awards received by this group under your mentorship.

Co-led a group of 8 students on a ten day trip to Guatemala to construct small cisterns for home water storage, May 2007.

Assisted the UT Engineers Without Borders

8. Other instructional and teaching activities.

Maintained a website with course information
Maintained BlackBoard sites for each class taught


D. PUBLICATIONS. List only publications that were published during the annual reporting period (for #8, submitted during reporting period). Format citations as typical and appropriate for outlet. If a co-author(s) is a student or was working under your direct supervision, place an asterisk after that person's name.

1. Refereed articles or refereed reviews appearing in peer-reviewed professional journals.

2. Book chapters or books.

3. Bulletins, reports, circulars, pamphlets, factsheets.

4. Popular press, trade, UTIA magazine or newsletter articles.

Lisa Schohl, and *.  2007.  Students Visit Guatemala: Students work to mend Guatemalan water problem.  Knox NewSentinel Article. July 6 2007 .

5. Abstracts from scientific or discipline meetings, papers from conference proceedings, etc.

Eash, N. S., J. Lee, Y.S. Zhang, C. Johns, and J. T. Ammons.  2007.  Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for quantitative soil analysis.  Annual Meetings Abstracts [CD-ROM]. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI.

6. Theses/Dissertations completed by students that you directed.

7. Other publications.

Eash, N. S.  2007.  Introduction to Soil Science Laboratory Manual. 

8. Articles submitted during the reporting period that are in review, in press or rejected. Please do not list articles in preparation.

K. Gremillion, J. D. Windingstad*, and s. Sherwood.  2007.  Forest opening, habitat use, and food production on the Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky: Adaptive flexibility in marginal settings.   (in review)

Windingstad, J. D.*, and N. S. Eash.  2007.  Unstable hillslope soil genesis in the Cumberland Escarpment of Eastern Kentucky.   (in review)

Windingstad, J. D.*, S. Sherwood, K Gremillion, and N. S. Eash.  2007.  Soil Fertility and slope processes in the Western Cumberland Escarpment of Kentucky: Influences on the development of horticulture in the Eastern Woodlands.   (in press)


E. FUNDING. Format each entry as a citation, include as applicable: investigators (with percent effort shown on grant or contract document), title, source/agency.

1. Grant and contract proposals submitted but not awarded during this reporting period. Indicate date of submission and status (still pending, rejected).

2. Grants and contracts awarded during this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Michael Smith (50%), Kelly Robbins (20%), Del Smith (10%), F. R. Walker (10%), N. S. Eash (10%).  Enhancing educational quality and international competitiveness: Recruiting traditionally underrepre.  USDA-CSREES.  7/20/07-6/30/10.  $139,315.

3. Grants and contracts awarded in past years that continued into this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Lee, J. (70%), N. S. Eash (30%).  Soil and plant analysis using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.  Rural Development Administration of Korea.  5/1/06-4/30/09.  $90,000.

Eash, N. S. (34%), F. R. Walker (33%), D. D. Tyler (33%).  Initiating Research and Teaching Collaboration with the University of Lesotho.  UT Ready for the World.  3/7/07-4/7/07.  $5,000.

4. Gifts. List recipients, donor, items or amount donated and dollar equivalent received during the reporting period.

Eash, N.S., F. Walker, J. Logan, K. Robbins, R. Orr. Anonymous donor. $150,000. Money is to support work aimed at improving subsistence food production in Guatemala.

5. Grant reports submitted. List authors, title, to whom submitted, date submitted.

Eash, N.S., F. Walker, and D.D. Tyler. 2007. University of Tennessee Ready for the World Planning Visit to Lesotho. Submitted April 2007.

6. Other (e.g. sales, royalties).


F. OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

1. Tech. advances (intell. prop., patent, copyright, products, processes, genetic lines/varieties).

2. Computer software (e.g. instructional or research software, CD ROMs).

3. Educational tools.

4. Internet activities.

Eash, N. S.  2007.  ESS 120 Website.  Website with study guides and practice exams.

Eash, N. S.  2007.  ESS 210 Website.  Website with study guides, practice exams, interactive quizzes.

5. Other creative products and activities.

Eash, N. S., C. Green, A. Razvi, and W. Bennett.  2007.  Soil Science Simplified.  This text will be released by Wiley in March 2008.


G. SERVICE. List client outreach activities (both public and private sectors) and professional service.
    
1. Client service.
 a. Commodity or discipline group service activities. List committees, offices held or other roles.

b. Clinical and diagnostic services. List type of service provided and client(s).

c. Service to individual producers, businesses, or corporations as a specialist, consultant or expert advisor (whether paid or unpaid). List your one-on-one service activities with this group of clients.

Assist AgCert International with review of white papers and carbon sequestration research

d. Other (e.g. Ag Day activities, Varsity Visit, judging, presentations at clubs and K-12 schools).

2. Professional service (for professional colleagues).
a. Within the university.
I. Committee work. Briefly describe your involvement during the reporting period.
i. University.

UT/UTIA/TSU Africa Initiative Team Member
UTK Committee on Sustainability
Soil Testing and Fertilizer
Little River Farm Environment Research Team


ii. UTIA.

Key Placement
Recruitment Committee
UTIA International Advisory Board

iii. Department.

ESS Curriculum
Scholarship
Tenure and Promotion
Peer Review of Teaching
Major Field Assessment of ESS program; Coordinator

II. Other (e.g. technical assistance to colleagues, peer reviews,
mentoring of junior faculty, hosting visiting scientists).

Hosted two Kasetsart University students for homestay, May 2007

b. Outside the university (e.g. committee work/offices in professional or public organizations or societies, editorship, editorial boards, review of manuscripts (indicate outlet) and project proposals (indicate agency), meetings organized, member of grant review panel or study section, moderator, etc.).

Associate Editor for Agronomy Journal
Editorial Board, American Society of Agronomy
Reviewed eight manuscripts


H. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (meetings, workshops, classes, trips, etc.). List the event or activity, sponsor, duration of event and your role.

1. DARS Meeting, UTIA, 1/2007; 4 hours
2. American Society of Agronomy National Meetings, New Orleans.
3. Needs Assessment of Several Communities in Guatemala, February 23 to March 3, 2007 (Team Member)
4. University of Tennessee Engineers Without Borders trip to Guatemala to build cisterns for home water use. May 18 to 30, 2007; trip co-coordinator, faculty mentor.
5. Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. November 5-8, 2007
6. UTIA/TSU Africa Initiative trip to sign memorandum of understanding with the National University of Lesotho; September 24 to October 2, 2007.
7. Soil Assessment of Lesotho Highlands agriculture, March 2007; funded by UT Ready for the World Initiative.
8. Led 37 UT students on a Hurricane Katrina Relief trip to Biloxi, MS over Spring and Fall Break, 2007; gutted and roofed houses.
9. Participated in the soil science tour at the Soil Science Society of America meetings, New Orleans; November 2007.
10. Associate Editor of Agronomy Journal, December 2005 through December 2008.
11. Attended CASNR teaching workshop, Spring 2007
12. Attended CASNR Fall teaching workshop, August 2007


I. PERSONNEL SUPERVISION. List the postdoctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, technicians, extension associates, extension assistants, graduate assistants, undergraduate students, clerical personnel or others that you supervised during the year.

ClassificationFTE's per semester
SpringSummerFall
Postdoctoral fellows      
Research associates, assistants, technicians      
Extension associates, assistants      
Graduate students, assistants      
Undergraduate students 2  2  3 
Clerical personnel      
Other      


J. HONORS AND AWARDS. List honors and awards received during reporting period, including the name of the organization presenting the award.

E.R. Prof Lidvall Award, UTIA, July 2007.