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Published on 05/09/00

Kissel Will Head UGA Ag Services Labs

David Kissel will become the head of the University of Georgia Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories as of June 1.

A UGA professor of crop and soil sciences, Kissel will coordinate all of the lab's analytical and diagnostic services, including soil testing, pesticide analysis, forage quality and related testing.

Kissel was head of the CAES crop and soil sciences department from 1989 to 1996 and was president of the Soil Science Society of America in 1995.

His research focused on developing a technique for mapping the clay and organic-matter concentrations of soil using Geographical Information Systems and selective soil sampling. The technology gives farmers a fairly low-cost alternative to detailed soil sampling, which had been the only way to identify the sporadically spaced and shaped low-fertility areas of a field.

Kissel will continue to co-teach a class in "GIS Applications in Crop and Soil Sciences." He will maintain his research program in soil chemistry, too, with studies related to soil testing and nutrient management.

Merritt Melancon, a public relations manager for the UGA Terry College of Business, previously served as a public relations coordinator for the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Extension.

Experts/Sources:
David E. Kissel Ph.D
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