Department of Agronomy

2000 Lecturer | Dr. Gyles W. Randall

About the Lecturer

The seventeenth annual Roscoe Ellis, Jr. Soil Science Lecture was presented 15 May 2000 by Dr. Gyles W. Randall, Soil Scientist and Professor, Southern Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Waseca. Dr. Randall received the B.S. (1963) and M.S. (1968) degrees in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota. He received the Ph.D. degree in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.

During 1969-1970 he was on an NSF Fellowship and during 1970-1971 he was on a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Fellowship. During his 28 years with the University of Minnesota's Southern Experiment Station at Waseca, he has been visiting professor in the Department of Soil Science at North Carolina State University (1983-1984), on a quarter leave assignment in The Netherlands, Denmark, and Great Britain (1991), and on a quarter leave assignment in Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania (1998).

Research

Dr. Randall has extensive research and educational accomplishments in nutrient management and tillage systems. His research has included studies of:

  1. Nutrient management and use of field-applied swine manure;
  2. Soil availability of P using manure from livestock fed high-available P (HAP) corn,
  3. Improving N management in very reduced tillage systems with N sources, placement, time of application, and nitrification inhibitors;
  4. P uptake and grain yield response of low-phytate corn to varying soil and fertilizer P levels; and
  5. N application methods for improved efficiency in ridge-plant tillage systems.

His research results have been published in 72 peer-reviewed journal articles and in 9 chapters of books. He has contributed 8 articles published by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and 20 articles published by the Minnesota Extension Service. He served as Associate Editor (1982-1987) and Technical Editor (1988-1991) of the Soil Science Society of America Journal (Divisions S-4 and S-8).

Awards

In 1983, Dr. Randall was presented the Professional Excellence Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the Soil Conservation Society of America. He received the Minnesota Experiment Station Dean and Directors Distinguished Team Award in 1996, the Certificate of Excellence Award for Publications-Circulars in 1997 from the American Society of Agronomy, and the Fluid Fertilizer Researcher of the Year Award presented by the Fluid Fertilizer Foundation in 1998. He was elected Fellow of both the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America in 1988.