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Agricultural Systems and Education Faculty
Our faculty are a unique blend of researchers, educators and professionals who are proven experts in their fields.
Myron Albers, Senior Lecturer
Agricultural Systems and Education
I have been actively engaged in farming for 40 years with a specialization in Simmental and Black Angus cattle. In addition, I enjoy forage production and operating heavy construction equipment.
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Office: Agriculture Building, Room 145-F
Phone: 618-453-6970
mcalbers@siu.edu
Ruplal Choudhary, Professor
Agricultural Systems and Education
Dr. Choudhary is a Food and Bioprocess Engineer with over 20 years of academic and industrial experience in design and development of food processing equipment and operations. Before moving to SIU, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Manitoba, and South Dakota State University.
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Office: Agriculture Building, Room 158-C
Phone: 618-453-6985
choudhry@siu.edu
Howard Heavner, Instructor
Agricultural Systems and Education
Dr. Heavner is from Valmeyer, Illinois. He completed his B.S. at Western Illinois University in Macomb. Howard completed both his Masters and Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He taught high school agriculture at Valmeyer for 33 years.
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Office: Agriculture Building, Room 176-E
Phone: 618-719-1778
hheavner7@siu.edu
Stella Kantartzi, Professor
Crop, Soil and Environmental Management
Dr. Stella K. Kantartzi joined the Department of Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2008 and currently serves as Professor. She published more than 65 refereed manuscripts and six book chapters; edited one book; released five cultivars and seven germplasm lines; and awarded over $7 million in federal and state grants. She serves as an Editor or Associate Editor for high-ranking scientific journals.
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Office: Public Policy Institute, Room 107Khalid Meksem, Professor
Crop, Soil and Environmental Management
Dr. Meksem joined the Department of Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems at SIU as an Assistant Professor from 2000 to 2005, then as Associate Professor from 2005 to 2008, and was promoted to full Professor in 2009. He published more than 60 refereed manuscripts, 3 book chapters; Dr. Meksem edited 3 books and was awarded 4 patents on his work on disease resistance genes in potato and soybean. He serves as an editor and ad hoc reviewer for a number of international scientific journals as well as for national, federal and international granting agencies.
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Office: Public Policy Institute, Room 115Seburn Pense, Professor
Agricultural Systems and Education
Dr. Pense is originally from Tacoma, Washington. After serving 4 years in the U.S. Navy, he completed his B.S. and Masters degrees in California at U.C. Davis.
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Office: Agriculture Building, Room 154-A
Phone: 618-453-2467
sebpense@siu.edu
Steven Still, Assistant Professor
Agricultural Systems and Education
Dr. Still was born in Champaign, Il and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He completed his BS in agriculture with a minor in agriculture education at The Ohio State University before teaching high school agriculture for eight years in central Ohio, during which he earned his M.Ed.
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Office: Agriculture Building, Room 176
Phone: 618-453-2498
steven.still@siu.edu
Dennis Watson, Professor and Faculty Coordinator
Office: Agriculture Building, Room 158-B
Phone: 618-453-6979
dwatson@siu.edu