Personal Links:
- Heeren Research Website
- Educational Programs in Irrigation
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering
- Water for Food Global Institute
- Irrigation Innovation Consortium
Professional Memberships:
Associate Professor and Irrigation Engineer
Water for Food Global Institute Faculty Fellow
Water for Food Global Institute Faculty Fellow
Academic Degrees
- Ph.D., Biosystems Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 2012
- M.S., Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, 2008
- B.S., Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, 2004
- Licensed Professional Engineer, State of Oklahoma
Certifications
• Ph.D., P.E.
Sensors on the Pivot for Automated Irrigation
More information: https://go.unl.edu/7umr
New Textbook: Irrigation Systems Management
More information: https://www.asabe.org/ISM
Appointment
- 58% Research
- 40% Teaching
- 2% Service
Curriculum Vitae (CV):
HeerenCV-April2022.pdfAreas of Research and Professional Interest
Research Interests:
- Irrigation engineering and management
- Sprinkler and variable rate irrigation systems
- Irrigation management based on remote sensing
- Nitrate leaching to groundwater
- International irrigation development
Teaching Interests:
- Agricultural systems technology (new major!)
- Irrigation systems management
- Agricultural engineering
- Irrigation and water resources engineering
Courses Taught
- MSYM 452/852 Irrigation Systems Management (fall semesters)
- AGEN/MSYM 854 Irrigation Laboratory and Field Course (summer of even years)
- MSYM 855 Advanced Irrigation Management (spring of odd years)
- AGEN/BSEN 957 Modeling Vadose Zone Hydrology (spring of odd years, will be taught by Aaron Daigh starting in 2023)
- MSYM 462 Equipment Systems (spring semesters)
About Derek Heeren
The objective of Dr. Heeren's teaching program is to prepare students to be wise managers of irrigation, water resources, and agricultural systems. He teaches courses in agricultural systems technology and agricultural engineering, advises undergraduate and graduate students, and is coadvisor for the Agricultural Systems Technology Club. Students working with Derek get hands-on experience with irrigation technology while working with industry partners. Derek recently published a textbook on Irrigation Systems Management, available at https://asabe.org/ism. He also has various leadership roles in ASABE and is the coordinator for the partnership between the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) and the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands. For information on Derek's research, visit his research website at https://heeren.unl.edu/. Before starting graduate school, Derek spent two years working at a civil engineering firm in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. He grew up on a farm in southeastern South Dakota and developed an interest in conserving natural resources while participating in FFA land judging and natural resources competitions. He is married to Amber and has four children (ages 12 to 18).
Honors and Awards
- A. W. Farrall Young Educator Award. 2018. Amercian Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
- Distinguished Alumnus Award. 2017. Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University.
- ASABE Superior Paper Award. 2016. For the refereed journal article: Heeren, D. M., G. A. Fox, and D. E. Storm. Heterogeneity of infiltration rates in alluvial floodplains as measured with a berm infiltration technique.
Selected Publications
Selected Journal Articles:
- Bhatti, S., Heeren, D. M., Evett, S. R., O’Shaughnessy, S. A., Neale, C. M. U., Rudnick, D. R., Franz, T. E., & Ge, Y. 2022. Crop response to thermal stress without yield loss in irrigated maize and soybean in Nebraska. Agricultural Water Management 274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107946
- Bhatti, S., D. M. Heeren, S. A. O’Shaughnessy, S. R. Evett, M. S. Maguire, S. P. Kashyap, and C. M. U. Neale. 2022. Comparison of stationary and mobile canopy sensing systems for irrigation management of maize and soybean in Nebraska. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 38(2): 331-342. https://doi.org/10.13031/aea.14945
- Singh, J., Y. Ge, D. M. Heeren, E. Walter-Shae, C. M. U. Neale, S. Irmak, and M. S. Maguire. 2022. Unmanned aerial system-based data ferrying over a sensor node station network in maize. Sensors 22: 1863. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22051863
- Bhatti, S., D. M. Heeren, J. B. Barker, C. M. U. Neale, W. E. Woldt, M. S. Maguire, and D. R. Rudnick. 2020. Site-specific irrigation management in a sub-humid climate using a spatial evapotranspiration model with satellite and airborne imagery. Agricultural Water Management 230, doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2019.105950.
- Singh, J., D. M. Heeren, D. R. Rudnick, W. E. Woldt, G. Bai, Y. Ge, and J. D. Luck. 2020. Soil structure and texture effects on the precision of soil water content measurements with a capacitance-based electromagnetic sensor. Transactions of the ASABE 63(1): 141-152, doi: 10.13031/trans.13496.
- Evett, S. R., P. D. Colaizzi, F. R. Lamm, S. A. O’Shaughnessy, D. M. Heeren, T. J. Trout, W. L. Kranz, and X. Lin. 2020. Past, present and future of irrigation on the U.S. Great Plains. Transactions of the ASABE 63(3): 703-729, doi: 10.13031/trans.13620.
- Chavez, J. L., A. F. Torres-Rua, W. E. Woldt, H. Zhang, C. Robertson, G. W. Marek, D. Wang, D. M. Heeren, S. Taghvaeian, and C. M. U. Neale 2020. A decade of unmanned aerial systems in irrigated agriculture in the Western U.S. Applied Engineering in Agriculture 36(4): 423-436, doi: 10.13031/aea.13941
- Barker, J. B., C. M. U. Neale, D. M. Heeren, and A. E. Suyker. 2018. Evaluation of a hybrid reflectance-based crop coefficient and energy balance evapotranspiration model for irrigation management. Transactions of the ASABE 61(2): 533-548, doi: 10.13031/trans.12311.