James Schepers

James Schepers

Professor Emeritus

Area of Expertise: Soil and Water Sciences

B.S., AG HONORS, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA, 1968

M.S., AGRONOMY, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRAKSA, 1970

PH.D., AGRONOMY/SOIL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 1973

Area of Focus

Nitrogen Management, Precision Agriculture, Remote Sensing

Research Interests

Develop tools to help producers better manage nitrogen, protect groundwater resources, improve nitrogen use efficiency and improve productivity.

Major Project Activities

  • Managed the agronomic aspects of Nebraska’s Management System Evaluation Area (MSEA) project from 1990-2008.
  • Coordinated local and national joint research efforts involving EPA and the Resource21 consortium.
  • Coordinated precision agricultural activities and exchanges between USDA-ARS and Embrapa in Brazil
  • Review research proposals for U.S. and international research funding agencies.

Professional Memberships

  • International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA)
  • American Society of Agronomy (ASA)
  • Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Major Honors and Awards

  • Pierre Robert Senior Scientist Award, International Society of Precision Agriculture, 2020.
  • International Soil Science Award, Soil Science Society of America, 2015.
  • Leo Walsh Lectureship, American Society of Agronomy, 2014.
  • Mentor of the Year, Northern Plains Area, USDA-ARS, 2006.
  • Senior Scientist of the Year, Northern Plains Area, USDA-ARS, 2004.
  • Soil Science Professional Service Award, Soil Science Society of America, 2003.
  • Soil Science Applied Research Award, Soil Science Society of America, 1995.
  • Werner L. Nelson Award for Diagnosis of Yield-Limiting Factors, American Society of Agronomy, 1994.
  • Fellow, Soil Science Society of America, 1994.
  • Fellow, America Society of Agronomy, 1990.

Publications

  • Raun W.R., and J.S. Schepers. 2008. Nitrogen management for improved use efficiency. P. 675-694. In J.S. Schepers and W.R. Raun (eds.) Nitrogen in Agricultural Systems. Amer. Soc. Agron. Mono.
  • Schepers, J.S., and W.R. Raun. 2008. Nitrogen in Agricultural Systems. American Society of Agronomy Monograph.
  • Hodgen, P.J., R.B. Ferguson, J.F. Shanahan, and J.S. Schepers. 2009. Uptake of point source depleted 15N fertilizer by neighboring corn plants. Agron. J. 101:1-7.
  • Stamatiadis, S., C. Tsadilas, and J.S. Schepers. 2009. Ground-based canopy sensing for detecting effects of water stress in cotton. Plant Soil, DOI 10.1007/s11104-009-0252-2.
  • Roberts, D.F., V.I. Adamchuk, J.F. Shanahan, R.B. Ferguson, and J.S. Schepers. 2009. Optimization of crop canopy sensor spacing for detecting nitrogen stress in corn. Agron. J. 101:140-149.
  • Stamatiadis, S., C. Tsadilas, and J.S. Schepers. 2010.Ground-based canopy sensing for detecting effects of water stress in cotton. Plant Soil 331:277-287. DOI 10.1007/s11104-009-0252
  • Roberts, D.F., V.I. Adamchuk, J.F. Shanahan, R.B. Ferguson, and J.S. Schepers. 2010. Estimation of surface soil organic matter using a ground-based active sensor and aerial imagery. Precision Agriculture, DOI 10.1007/s11119-010-9158-5.
  • Holland, K.H., and J.S. Schepers. 2010. Derivation of a variable rate nitrogen application model for in-season fertilization of corn. Agronomy J. 102:1415-1424.
  • Ciganda, V.A., A.A. Gitelson, and J. Schepers. 2012. How deep does a remote sensor sense? Expression of chlorophyll content in a maize canopy. Remote Sensing of Environment 126:240–247.
  • Schepers, J.S., and K.H. Holland. 2012. Evidence of dependence between crop vigor and yield. Precision Agriculture 13:276–284.
  • Holland, K.H., D.W. Lamb, and J.S. Schepers. 2012. Radiometry of proximal active Optical sensors (AOS) for agricultural sensing. IEEE 5:1793-1802.
  • Holland, K.H., and J.S. Schepers. 2013. Use of a virtual-reference concept to interpret active crop canopy sensor data. Prec. Agric. 14:71-85.
  • Schlemmer, M., Gitelson, A., Schepers, J., Ferguson, R., Peng, Y., Shanahan, J., Rundquist, D. 2013. Remote estimation of nitrogen and chlorophyll contents in maize at leaf and canopy levels. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 25:47-54.
  • Nguy-Robertson, A., Y. Peng, T. Arkebauer, D. Scoby, J. Schepers, and A. Gitelson. 2015. Using a Simple Leaf Color Chart to Estimate Leaf and Canopy Chlorophyll A Content in Maize (Zea mays). Comm. Soil Sci. and Plant Anal. 00:1-12.
  • Franzen, D. W.; Kitchen, N. R.; Holland, K. H.; Schepers, J. S.; Raun, W. R. 2016. Algorithms for in-season nutrient management in cereals. Agronomy Journal, 108(5), 1-7. doi: 10.2134/agronj2016.01.0041
  • Bean, G.M., N.R. Kitchen, J.J Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, J. Schepers, and J.S. Shanahan. 2018. Active-optical reflectance sensor algorithms evaluated over the United States Midwest Corn Belt. Agron. J. 110: 2552-2558. doi: 10.2134/agronj2018.03.0217
  • Bean, G.M., N.R. Kitchen, J.J Camberato, R.B. Ferguson, F.G. Fernandez, D.W. Franzen, C.A.M. Laboski, E.D. Nafziger, J.E. Sawyer, P.C. Scharf, J. Schepers, and J.S. Shanahan. 2018. Improving an active-optical reflectance sensor algorithm using soil and weather information. Agron. J. 110:1-11. doi:10.2134/agronj2017.12.0733
  • Pablo, J., G. Montealegre, C. Wortmann, R. Ferguson, T. Shaver, R. Little, and J. Schepers. 2019. Fertilizer equivalence of organic nitrogen applied in beef cattle manure. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 114/2:1-11. DOI 10.1007/s10705-019-10003-6
  • Stamatiadis, S., Schepers, J. S., Evangelou, E., Glampedakis, A., Glampedakis, M., Dercas, N., Tsadilas, C., Tserlikakis, N., and Tsadila E. 2019. Variable-rate application of high spatial resolution can improve cotton N-use efficiency and profitability. Precision Agriculture, ( ), 1-18. doi 10.1007/s11119-019-09690-6
  • Pablo, J., Montealegre, G., Wortmann, C., Schepers, J., and Little, R. 2019. Applied organic nitrogen: Preplant and in-season estimation of corn nitrogen uptake. Field Crops Research 241:1-8. doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2019.107577
  • Evangelou, E., Stamatiadis, S., Schepers, J.S., Glampedakis, A., Glampedakis, M., Dercass, N., Tsadilas, C., and Nikoli, T. 2020. Evaluation of sensor-based field-scale spatial application of granular N to maize. Precision Agriculture, 21(5):1008-1026. doi.org/10.1007/s11119-019-09705-2