About the Authors

Dr. Dean E. Eisenhauer is an Emeritus Professor of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he specialized in hydrologic and irrigation engineering with appointments in teaching, research, and extension. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University. He was on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty from 1975 until he retired in 2015. Dean taught courses in irrigation management, watershed management, engineering hydrology, hydrologic modeling, and vadose zone hydrology. His research interests include hydrologic impacts of land use and water management practices in agricultural regions, infiltration and overland flow, water flow in the vadose zone, engineering of vegetative buffers for riparian and upland ecosystems, chemigation, management of furrow irrigation, and water measurement technology for irrigation.

Dean advised or co-advised 33 graduate students and served on 73 graduate student committees during his career. He has co-authored 57 journal articles and 4 book chapters. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Nebraska. Dean is a Faculty Fellow in the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska. At DWFI he was a co-developer of a successful partnership with IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in Delft, Netherlands (IHE). Dean’s pastimes and hobbies include spending time with family, vegetable gardening, bicycling, traveling, and reading.

Dr. Derrel L. Martin is Professor Emeritus of Irrigation and Water Resources Engineering in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Nebraska in 1975 and 1979. He received his PhD from Colorado State University in 1984. Derrel has also worked for a state agency and a consulting company before attending graduate school. Dr. Martin is a Professional Engineer, a Fellow of the ASABE, and served as Chair of the Soil and Water Division of the ASABE.

Dr. Martin worked in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for forty-one years. He taught courses in irrigation engineering and management, and vadose zone hydrology. His research focused on irrigation engineering and management, protection of groundwater quality by minimizing pollution from agricultural chemicals, deficit irrigation due to water limitations, evapotranspiration and crop water use, and modeling the soil-water-plant system to assess productivity. He spent over fifteen years delivering Extension programs on irrigation, water resources management and energy use in irrigated agriculture. He developed software used by state and local water management agencies. He served as an expert witness in regional litigation and United States Supreme Court actions. He grew up on an irrigated farm and ranch in western Nebraska and continues to work with family partners. Derrel’s interest include spending time with family, attending collegiate sporting events, and volunteering.

Dr. Derek M. Heeren is an Associate Professor and Irrigation Engineer in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), and a Faculty Fellow of the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI). He graduated from South Dakota State University in 2004 with a B.S. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and an M.S. in 2008. Before graduate school, Derek spent two years working at a geotechnical engineering firm near St. Louis, Missouri. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 2012, before coming to UNL.

Derek has taught or co-taught eight courses, including Irrigation Systems Management, Advanced Irrigation Management, Irrigation Laboratory Field Course, and Modeling Vadose Zone Hydrology. Derek’s research has addressed irrigation management, sprinkler irrigation systems, irrigation technology, vadose zone hydrology, water quality, and surface water-groundwater interaction, with projects in the United States, India, Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. Derek has published 43 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has served as advisor or coadvisor for 12 graduate students from six countries and has served on graduate committees for an additional 15 graduate students. Derek is the Partnership Coordinator for the partnership between DWFI and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, Netherlands. Outside of work, Derek enjoys time with family, outdoor hobbies, and church activities.

Dr. Glenn J. Hoffman received combined BS and MS degrees in Agricultural Engineering in 1963 from Ohio State University followed by a PhD from North Carolina State University. He started in 1966 as a research engineer at the USDA/ARS (Agricultural Research Service) Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, California. His research led to recognition as an international authority on the management of irrigated salt-affected soils and crop salt tolerance. In 1984, Glenn led scientists at the USDA/ARS Water Management Laboratory in Fresno, California on studies of subsurface drip irrigation and the water requirement and salt tolerance of tree crops.

Glenn was selected head of the Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1989. He led faculty members to change the department to Biological Systems Engineering. Undergraduate enrollment increased 5-fold to 250 and graduate student numbers doubled. The department’s annual budget, including grants, increased to more than $6 million. He retired in 2003.

Glenn is the author of 170 scientific publications, including 17 book chapters and lead editor of 2 irrigation monographs. He consulted on salinity management in Israel, Australia, Spain, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, India, Brazil, China, and Argentina. Personal interests include family activities, foreign travel, mineral collecting, and bridge.