Careers

David Kissel, Professor and Laboratory Director

“ I appreciated the course work emphasis, which has helped me throughout my career. But most of all I appreciated the enthusiasm of the faculty for the research they did. The strong seminar series in the Department was also great, which was the best I have experienced in my career at three other Universities.”

Degrees

• 1965 - B.S.A. Agronomy (Soil Science), Purdue University.
• 1966 - M.S. Soil Science, University of Kentucky.
• 1969 - Ph.D. Soil Science, University of Kentucky.

Position

I currently serve as administrative head of the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories (AESL) of the University of Georgia and Professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences. The AESL is a unit of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and consists of four laboratories: The Soil Plant Water Laboratory, the Feed and Environmental Water Laboratory, the Pesticide and Hazardous Waste Laboratory, and a recently established Trace Laboratory.

Preparation at UK

My graduate studies at UK and my interaction with the outstanding faculty there gave me the fundamental training and perspective to become a lifelong learner and experimenter. I learned to be independent and I learned the importance of writing and communicating the results of my research with others in the scientific community.

Best Experiences

My best experiences were learning about new ideas and approaches to research from the soil’s faculty in Agronomy. I had the freedom to study and explore a range of topics, which gave me a relatively broad education. The emphasis was on a fundamental training in chemistry, along with training in mineralogy and plant physiology. I appreciated the course work emphasis, which has helped me throughout my career. But most of all I appreciated the enthusiasm of the faculty for the research they did. The strong seminar series in the Department was also great, which was the best I have experienced in my career at three other Universities.

My advisors at UK were John Ragland for my masters degree and Grant Thomas for my Ph.D. John Ragland encouraged me to develop the second year’s study for the M.S. degree on my own accord, which gave me a level of confidence to work on my own. Grant Thomas probably had the greatest influence on my approach to research.  I was Grant’s first Ph.D. graduate student at the University of Kentucky. I finished my degree at the end of October, 1969, which was about 18 months after Grant began his tenure at UK. Grant was also very helpful in supporting me for my first job, which was at Temple, Texas, about 90 miles from College Station. I have a debt of gratitude to Grant for that “assist”, and many others, as well as his continued encouragement over the years.

Supplementary Information

David's' departmental profile, University of Georgia.

Awards
1985 – Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy
1986 – Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America
1988-1990 – Editor In Chief of the Soil Science Society of America
1995 – President of the Soil Science Society of America
1995 – Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
2006 – Robert E. Wagner Senior Scientist Award, Potash and Phosphate Institute