Fascinated by plant science, agriculture, and motivated to find ways to help growers produce food as efficiently as possible, Jake Meeuwsen, a doctoral student advised by Dr. Pavek, is engaged in a two-fold research project. One aspect of his research is to investigate the ways plant populations and their spatial arrangement influence soil water use.
“This project is important,” Jake says, “because as growers experience water shortages, I will be able to advise them to plant at a particular arrangement or population to maximize yield and return while using water most efficiently. This project has multiple variables but once combined and analyzed we will be able to help growers stay profitable as water shortages become more common.”
The other aspect Jake is studying is “the feasibility of using mobile drip irrigation systems in the Columbia Basin. Mobile drip irrigation allows the ease of use of the center pivot while receiving the benefits of drip irrigation. This project is testing the product Dragon-Line. We are looking at how much water the system saves and if it reduces disease pressure while still maintaining a high yield and quality.”
Jake grew up in Kennewick, Washington but says he wasn’t introduced to agriculture in the summer of 2018. He had been intent on earning a degree in mechanical engineering but, he says, “A friend recommended me for an internship at Syngenta Crop Protection. That summer, I realized that this is what I wanted to do as a career and changed my study plans. Switching to crop science was a great decision and I haven’t looked back. For the next three summers I worked for Syngenta, working with many crops including wheat, peas, apples and, most importantly, potatoes. During the school years I worked as a breeding assistant at a pulse breeding company in Moscow, Idaho.”
A lifelong fly fisher who enjoys camping and dirt bike riding, Jakes says his goal is to “stay in potato research.” Potatoes being a global crop, who knows where that might take him? “Eventually,” he adds, “I would like to open a contract research company conducting crop research on various crops including potatoes.”