Advances in Agronomy

DONALD L. SPARKS is the Unidel S. Hallock du Pont Chair and Francis Alison Professor at the University of Delaware. He is internationally recognized for his research in the areas of kinetics of biogeochemical processes and surface chemistry of natural materials. His research has focused on fate and transport of trace metals in soil and water, soil remediation, water quality, and carbon sequestration in soils. Dr. Sparks is the author of two previous editions of Environmental Soil Chemistry and more than 350 refereed papers and book chapters. He is fellow of five scientific societies, and he has been the recipient of major awards and lectureships including the Geochemistry Medal from the American Chemical Society, the Liebig Medal from the International Union of Soil Sciences, the Einstein Professorship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Philippe Duchaufour Medal from the European Geosciences Union. Dr. Sparks served as president of the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Sciences, has served on advisory committees for several national laboratories and national and international centers and institutes, and served as chair of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee for Soil Sciences and other NAS Committees.

1. Current Sensor Technologies for In Situ and On-line Measurement of Soil Nitrogen for Variable Rate Fertilization: A Review Angela Guerrero, Stefaan De Neve and Abdul M. Mouazen 2. Application of Molecular Biotechnology to Manage Biotic Stress Affecting Crop Enhancement and Sustainable Agriculture Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji, Robert J. Kremer, Rasheed Makanjuola and Neera Bhalla Sarin 3. A Review of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) Applications in Porous Media Hailong He, Gukailin Ao, Min Li, Jinghui Xu, Wenyi Sheng, Scott B. Jones, Juan D. Gonzalez Teruel, David A. Robinson, Robert Horton, Keith Bristow, Miles Dyck, Vilim Filipovic, Kosuke Noborio, Qingbai Wu, Huijun Jin, Hao Feng, Bingcheng Si, and Jialong Lv 4. Soil Health in Agricultural Ecosystems: Current Status and Future Perspectives Gurpal S. Toor, Yun-Ya Yang, Srabani Das, Suzanne Dorsey and Gary Felton 5. Genetic Improvement of Crop Yield, Grain Protein and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Wheat, Rice and Maize in China Lin Liu, Victor O. Sadras, Jiaxing Xu, Changlu Hu, Xueyun Yang and Shulan Zhang