UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Armen R. Kemanian, professor of production systems and modeling, has been appointed interim head of the Department of Plant Science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
He takes the reins from Erin Connolly, professor of plant science, who has led the department since May 2016.
“I want to thank Dr. Connolly for her leadership of the department,” said Troy Ott, dean of the college. “Erin has been a tireless leader who has led the plant sciences department with strategic vision and compassionate energy. Under her leadership, the department has hired more than 30 faculty that are positioning the college to continue to be a leader in the plant sciences. We are so grateful for her leadership. As Erin steps back to her faculty role, I know she will continue to me a mentor to help advance the department.”
Kemanian has been a faculty member in the Department of Plant Science since 2010 in a co-funded appointment with the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Institute of Energy and the Environment. His research advances the understanding and management of agricultural and natural ecosystems by integrating stable isotopes, micrometeorology, mechanistic modeling and machine learning to study carbon, nitrogen and water cycling.
He leads the development of the Cycles Agroecosystem Model and its landscape-scale counterpart, Cycles-L, both applied from field to watershed scales. Kemanian’s work bridges fundamental science and societal needs in agricultural productivity, economic resilience and environmental sustainability. With a 75% research and 25% teaching appointment, he teaches plant ecology at the undergraduate level and environmental biophysics and models in agricultural and natural systems at the graduate level.
The Department of Plant Science offers three undergraduate majors in plant sciences, landscape contracting and turfgrass science, as well as a two-year program in golf course turfgrass management. It offers two graduate programs in agricultural and environmental plant science and turfgrass management. Plant Science faculty members participate in intercollege graduate programs in ecology; molecular, cellular and integrative biosciences; and plant biology.
With 50 faculty focused on the land grant mission, the department also conducts fundamental and applied scientific research to address complex problems that promote sustainable land use and food production and communicates research findings through scholarly publications and extension programs to enhance the quality of life for residents of Pennsylvania and the world.
More information about the department is available at http://plantscience.psu.edu/.
Jeff Mulhollem