Dr. Tyson Ochsner

EPSCoR Research Focus: 
Observatory Network * Forecasting System * Decision-Support System
Associate Professor, Applied Soil Physics
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
Oklahoma State University
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Education: 
B.S. | Environmental Science | Oklahoma State University | 1998
M.S. | Soil Science and Water Resources | Iowa State University | 2000
Ph.D. | Soil Science and Water Resources | Iowa State University | 2003
Research Interests: 

Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR Researchers:
Exploring
Socio-Ecological Systems' Adaptation to Climate Variability

Dr. Tyson Ochsner is a native of Chattanooga, Oklahoma. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Science at OSU in 1998. He then studied Soil Science and Water Resources at Iowa State University earning a M.S. in 2000 and a Ph.D. in 2003. From 2003 through 2008, he worked as a soil scientist for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

The mission of Dr. Ochsner’s soil physics research and teaching program is to help people better understand and appreciate the soil, the soil water balance, and the surface energy balance so that we can more wisely manage and conserve the land and water with which we have been entrusted.

Dr. Ochsner's work on the Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR research project addresses three research objectives, including:

  1. Establishment of a first-of-its-kind, statewide, socio-ecological observatory;
  2. Development of a fully integrated socio-ecological modeling and prediction system that is designed to integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches and to systematically examine insights from both disciplinary and integrated perspectives;
  3. Development of a pilot decision-support system that provides researchers, educators and practitioners with data, models, tools and scenarios that are needed to explore and understand the social and ecological impacts of management and policy decisions. 

Pictured (above/right): Dr. Tyson Ochsner

Research Assistants Funded by EPSCoR: 

Jingnuo Dong (Graduate Student)
Dept. of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University
Research Focus:  Conducting cosmic-ray rover experiments; working on soil moisture mapping.
Email:  geano.dong@okstate.edu

Key Publications: 
  • Torres, G.M., R.P. Lollato and T.E. Ochsner. 2013. Comparison of Drought Probability Assessments Based on Atmospheric Water Deficit and Soil Water Deficit. Agron. J. 105: 428-436. doi:10.2134/agronj2012.0295.
  • Wine, M.L., T.E. Ochsner, A. Sutradhar and R. Pepin. 2012. Effects of eastern redcedar encroachment on soil hydraulic properties along Oklahoma's grassland-forest ecotone. Hydrological Processes 26: 1720-1728. doi:10.1002/hyp.8306.
  • Patrignani, A., C.B. Godsey, T.E. Ochsner, and J.T. Edwards. 2012. Soil Water Dynamics of Conventional and No-Till Wheat in the Southern Great Plains. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 76: 1768-1775. doi:10.2136/sssaj2012.0082.
  • Krueger, E.S., T.E. Ochsner, P.M. Porter, and J.M. Baker. 2011. Winter rye cover crop management influences on soil water, soil nitrate, and corn development. Agron. J. 103:316-323.
  • Ochsner, T.E., K.A. Albrecht, T.W. Schumacher, J.M. Baker, and R.J. Berkevich. 2010. Water balance and nitrate leaching under corn in kura clover living mulch. Agron. J. 102:1169-1178.
  • Baker, J.M., T.J. Griffis and T.E. Ochsner. 2012. Coupling landscape water storage and supplemental irrigation to increase productivity and improve environmental stewardship in the U.S. Midwest. Water Resour. Res. 48: W05301. doi:10.1029/2011wr011780.
  • Baker, J.M., T.E. Ochsner, R.T. Venterea, and T.J. Griffis. 2007. Tillage and carbon sequestration--what do we really know? Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 118:1-5.
  • Ochsner, T.E., T.J. Sauer, and R. Horton. 2007. Soil heat storage measurements in energy balance studies. Agron. J. 99:311-319.
  • Ochsner, T.E., T.J. Sauer, and R. Horton. 2006. Field tests of the soil heat flux plate method and some alternatives. Agron. J. 98:1005-1014.
  • Ochsner, T.E., R. Horton, and T. Ren. 2001. A new perspective on soil thermal properties. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65:1641-1647.
Curriculum Vitae: