Dr. Tom Ammons

(PhD West Virginia University)

 

Professional Information

 

 

 

 

 

Research: 

Soil genesis, morphology, and classification.  Field and laboratory research in soil genesis, water quality, minesoil classification, disturbed land reclamation and rehabilitation

 

 

Courses:

ESS 242 Soil Morphology (Soil Vols)

ESS 442 Soil Genesis and Classification

ESS 512 Pedology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


CURRICULUM VITAE

 

 

NAME:        Dr. J.T. (Tom) Ammons                                              Last Updated: 1/16/2002

 

POSITION:         Professor

Department of Biosystems Engineering and Environmental Science

                              University of Tennessee

                              Knoxville, Tennessee 37901-1071

                  Telephone: 865-974-8804

                  E-mail: ammonst@utk.edu

 

I.PERSONAL DATA:

 

Date of Birth: February 5, l946.

Place of Birth:  Morgantown, West Virginia

 

II.EDUCATION:

 

Degree           Institution                               Date                Major Field                Minor Field

 

B.S.A.             Arkansas State Univ.            1971               Agronomy                  Chemistry

M.S.                West Virginia Univ.               1973               Soil Science    

Ph.D.               West Virginia Univ.              1979               Soil Science   

 

USDA Training:  Basic Leadership Training Course. Fort Worth, TX. 1974.

 

Soil Survey Basic Course. Gainesville, FL. 1975.

 

TVA Training:  Short Course in Modern Fertilizer Technology. June, 1986.

      

Certifications: Certified Soil Scientist, Tennessee Registry of Certified Professionals in Soils. Registration No.1.

      

Certified to make preliminary and high intensity soils  maps. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

 

III. EXPERIENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

 

1996- Present. University of Tennessee. Professor. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Soil survey leader for the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station. Grant sponsored research. Responsible for research and teaching classes in Soil Morphology, Soil Genesis and Classification, graduate course in Pedology, and the coach of the soil judging team.

 

1987-1996 . University of Tennessee. Associate Professor. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Soil survey leader for the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station. Grant sponsored research. Responsible for research and teaching classes in Soil Morphology, Soil Genesis and Classification, graduate course in Pedology, and the coach of the soil judging team. Tenured faculty, 1991.

 

1996. January through June. Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Geological Engineering at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. Melbourne, Australia.

 

1982 ‑ 1987. Tennessee Technological University. Cookeville, Tennessee.  Associate Professor of Plant and Soil Science. Responsibilities included: Teaching classes in Soil Fertility and Fertilizers, Physical Properties of Soil, Soil Conservation and Management, Introductory Soils, Soil Analysis, Soil Classification, Soil Evaluation, and soil judging team coach. Grant  sponsored research. Tenured faculty, 1984.

 

1979 ‑ 1982. Tennessee Technological University. Assistant Professor of Plant and Soil Science, Cookeville, Tennessee. Responsibilities included: Teaching classes in Soil Fertility and Fertilizers, Physical Properties of Soil, Soil Conservation and Management, Introductory Soils, Soil Analysis, Soil Classification,  Soil Evaluation, and soil judging team coach. Helped team teach  Greenhouse Management course. Grant sponsored research.­                 

 

1977 - 1979. West Virginia University. Research Assistant. Responsibilities included: Administered and completed USDA  grants, wrote grant proposals and research projects for MS  candidates. Assisted graduate students in field and laboratory orientation. Also assisted in teaching Soil Judging and Map Interpretations, Soil Genesis and Classification, and Soil Physics.

   

1971 ‑ 1973. West Virginia University. Graduate Teaching Assistant/Research Assistant. Responsibilities included: Teaching Forest Soils Lab, Agronomy 10, Introductory Soil Science Lab, Agronomy 2. Minesoil project research.

 

IV. Experience Other Than Higher Education:

 

1976 ‑ 1977. USDA‑SCS. Soil Scientist. Morgantown, West Virginia  Responsibilities included: Conducting soil survey, writing survey  manuscripts, conducting agricultural and non‑agricultural on‑site inventory and evaluations. Mapped and investigated soils on the Allegheny Plateau MLRA.

 

1974 ‑ 1976. USDA‑SCS in Elberton, Georgia. Soil Scientist. Responsibilities included: Mapping and investigating soils on the Southern Piedmont and Coastal Plain MLRA's.

 

1973 ‑ 1974. Division of Lands and Soils, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Cadiz, Ohio. Soil Resource Specialist. Responsibilities included: Participating in development of a minesoil mapping legend and mapping native soils on request. Cooperated with Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Harrison and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and USDA‑SCS.

 

1964 ‑ 1968. United States Air Force Sentry Dog Handler (K-9). Combat Defense Force (SAC) and one year in the Republic of Vietnam. Air Commendation Medal.

 

V. International Experience.

 

Australia 2002. A visit to the Pinnacles and Wave Rock were the highlights of this trip. In addition, I spent a day on Rottnest Island near Freemantle.

 

Thailand 2002. Presented scientific papers at the 17th World Congress of Soils. Paper titles were “Changes in Soil Ecology on the North of West Siberia as a result of Gas Extraction and A Comparison of Two Loessial Soils Found in Kursk, Russia and the Southern United States”. In addition, I attended a field trip to study acid sulfate soils and the reclamation of these soils for agricultural purposes in Thailand.

 

Canada. 2001. Presented paper titled “ Cesium blocking technique for decreasing its availability for plant.” Presented at the Sixth International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements. Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

 

Russia. 2000. Attended the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society Soils Congress in Suzdal, Russia. Co-authored a paper presented to a special symposium titled ”Anthropogeneous Evolution of Chernozems”. Attended the post-congress soils field tour of the “Golden Ring” in the Central Chernozemic Region. Presented seminars at the Russian Research Institute of Agronomy and Soil Erosion Control in Kursk, Russia. Sampled soil profiles at the Central Chernozemic Reserve and vicinity for a cooperative project with Dr. Ivan Vassenev of the Russian Research Institute of Agronomy and Soil Erosion Control in the Kursk Oblast. Toured several agricultural experiment stations. Visited open cast mining and reclamation efforts in the northern part of the Kursk, Oblast. Time frame was July 9 through August 8, 2000.

 

Australia 1997. Field trip with the Department of Civil and Geological Engineers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The field trip was to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Observations were made on soils, landscapes and the major geological units in the Flinders Ranges. Also visited with faculty on the city campus at RMIT in Melbourne. Time frame was July 13 through August 3 1997.

 

Australia. 1996. Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Geological Engineering at The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University.  Presented guest lectures and seminars at RMIT, Melbourne University, and the University of Newcastle. Conducted research on minesoils in New South Wales and Queensland and sampled two native soil research projects in Victoria. The National Faculty Exchange sponsored the exchange. January through July, 1996.

 

Guatemala. 1995.  The objective of this project was to study characteristics and potentials of selected soils in and around the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Soil profiles were described and sampled in the Peten Region, northern Guatemala.  Soil survey characterization data is completed for each soil profile for classification and interpretation purposes. A side trip was conducted to observe soils forming in volcanic parent materials in the central highlands.

 

Greece. Eastern Crete. 1988, 1989, 1991, and 1992. Conducted soil archaeology research on the Kavousi Expedition in Eastern Crete. Worked with the Department of Classics (UTK) on the Vronda and Kastro archaeological sites.  Conducted soil survey, including pedon sampling, around the archaeological sites near the village of Kavousi. Additionally, specialty sampling was completed within the archaeological sites. A field school was conducted on determining soil properties in the field for the archaeologists. In 1991, we expanded soil sampling to include the Karphi archaeological site.

Lectured and conducted field exercises for the Southeastern College at Athens, Greece. Course title was "Island Biogeography. Minoan Civilization and the Environment". Location of this field school was Eastern Crete, near the village of Kalo Horio.

 

USSR.1979. Reclamation of Disturbed Land. US-USSR, Project 02.05-31.Traveled to the Soviet Union as a soil scientist on a four-man team to visit various institutes and field research sites. Visited Moscow and sites in this region; Kiev and the southern Ukraine; Novosibirsk in Western Siberia; and Irkust in Eastern Siberia. Hosted Soviet Scientists visit to U.S. at West Virginia University.

 

Canada. 1978. Presented paper at the International Soils Congress in Edmonton, Canada. Toured the Southern Interior Plains of Canada on a Post Congress Soils and Geology tour.

 

Republic of Vietnam. 1967-1968. A non-academic experience with the U.S. Air Force near Phan Rang.

 

 

 

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:

 

Sigma Xi

American Society of Agronomy ‑ SSSA

Soil and Water Conservation Society of America

Soil Scientist Association of Tennessee

American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation

Gamma Sigma Delta

Rotary International, East Towne Rotary Club

 

Consulting Experience

 

United States Army Defense Mapping Agency

Washington, D.C. July 1987.

 

 

 

 

Awards or Honors

 

Phi Kappa Phi, 1993

Outstanding Faculty Award, PSS Club 1990.

Soil Scientist Association of Tennessee-president 1991.

USDA Soil Conservation Service, Recognition, December 1986.

Sigma Xi‑TTU Club President, 1983.

 

Professional Presentations (last 5 years)

 

American Society of Agronomy and Southern ASA

Soil Scientists Association of Tennessee

The University of Melbourne(AU)

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology(AU)

The University of New Castle(AU)

Tennessee Environmental Health Association

Deans and Experiment Station Superintendent’s meeting

Commodity Meetings, UTIA

Ames Water Quality Field Day

Rotary International

Tennessee Soil Survey Work Planning Conference

Soil Scientist Association of Tennessee

National Soil Survey Work Planning Conference

Southern Soil Survey Work Planning Conference 

4-H and FFA State Land Judging, Chairman and host

USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service

Russian Institute of Agronomy and Soil Erosion Control

Russian Soils Congress, Suzdal, Russia.

American Society of Surface Mining and Reclamation

Soil Science Society of America

Sixth International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, Canada

 


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