by Fran tenBensel Benne | Agronomy and Horticulture
Humberto Blanco, University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor of agronomy and horticulture, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy. The ASA recognized Blanco’s contributions and achievements at the ASA Awards Ceremony on Oct. 30 during the scientific society’s Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to the society, “Fellow is the highest recognition bestowed by the ASA. Members of the society nominate worthy colleagues based on their professional achievements and meritorious service.” Only a select few are bestowed with this distinction each year.
Blanco is nationally and internationally recognized for his research on soil ecosystem services of conservation agriculture (such as no-till), cover crops, biochar, crop residue management and energy crops. He has spoken worldwide on these topics.
His research includes field applications of soil physical processes and properties that influence water, carbon and nutrient cycling under different management scenarios — cover crops, biochar, crop residue removal, conservation tillage, diversified cropping systems and dedicated bioenergy crops. Recently, he has been assessing the potential of cover crops to deliver multiple ecosystem services, including livestock and biofuel production, and the implications of biochar use for managing low organic matter or degraded soils. He has published over 170 manuscripts on these topics. He has also authored four books, including a 617-page textbook titled “Soil Conservation and Management” with Springer for undergraduate and graduate students.
Blanco’s research is linked with undergraduate and graduate instruction. He teaches classes in soil management and applied soil physics to undergraduate and graduate students. National Science Education and North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture publications have documented some improved learning strategies Blanco uses in his courses. He teaches Agronomy 269 Principles of Soil Management and Agronomy 472/872 Applied Soil Physics.
His numerous awards include a Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, the Shirley H. Phillips Distinguished Lecture in No-Till Agriculture award from the University of Kentucky, the Young Scholar Award, and Best Paper Awards from the SSSA. He was chair of the SSSA Soil and Water Management and Conservation Division. He is a technical editor for Agronomy Journal and served as associate editor for the SSSA Journal.
Blanco received a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering from the Technical University of Oruro, Bolivia, in 1990 and a Master of Science and doctorate in soil science from the University of Missouri, respectively, in 1995 and 2003. He began his career at Nebraska in 2012 in applied soil physics and soil management. Before joining the university, he was an assistant and associate professor at Kansas State University.
