By Blake Jackson
Penn State has appointed Armen R. Kemanian, a professor of production systems and modeling in the College of Agricultural Sciences, as the new director of its Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems (TALiS) initiative.
The program promotes the development and application of innovative technologies that improve agricultural productivity while supporting environmental sustainability and healthy living systems.
In his new role, Kemanian will oversee TALiS efforts to advance technological innovations from research and development to practical use in agriculture and natural resource management.
The initiative focuses on leveraging Penn State’s land-grant strengths in research, education, and Extension to create tools that improve food production, biodiversity conservation, resource management, and economic growth across Pennsylvania.
“Dr. Kemanian is an outstanding choice to lead the Technologies for Agriculture and Living Systems initiative and serve in this important science leadership role in the college,” Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Troy Ott said.
“I’m pleased he will be guiding TALiS, and I’m confident his longstanding work developing and advancing technologies that make agriculture more profitable and sustainable will help us continue delivering meaningful impact for agriculture and society.”
Ott also thanked outgoing TALiS director Paul Heinemann, professor emeritus of agricultural and biological engineering, for his leadership and contributions to the initiative.
Kemanian said he is honored to lead the program and build on the foundation established under Heinemann.
“This purpose rests on the simple premise — that I share — that agricultural technology can advance productivity and build a better environment and a better society,” Kemanian said.
“My vision for TALiS is to strengthen our innovation ecosystem. Specifically, I would like for us to compress the timeline between discovery and implementation, and to build a durable infrastructure for that pipeline.”
“I want to give researchers room to be creative in ways that lead to concrete technologies that can be tested, refined and commercialized,” Kemanian said. “Part of that means treating the agricultural sector as a living laboratory and treating ourselves as a force within it. Let us work together toward that vision.”
Kemanian will continue his research and teaching responsibilities within Penn State’s Department of Plant Science and the Institute of Energy and the Environment. His work focuses on understanding agricultural and natural ecosystems through the study of carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles. He is also the lead developer of the CYCLES agroecosystem model and the watershed-scale CYCLES-L model.
Since joining Penn State in 2010 after previous appointments at Texas A&M University, Kemanian has built a research program that combines advanced modeling, machine learning, micrometeorology, and stable isotope techniques to address agricultural productivity and environmental challenges.
Photo Credit: penn-state
Categories: Pennsylvania, Education