Education

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

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

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

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