Thandi Nleya

Title

Professor

Office Building

Office

245B

Mailing Address

McFadden Biostress Laboratory 245B
Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science-Box 2140C
University Station
Brookings, SD 57007

Biography

Dr. Thandiwe Nleya received a B.S. in agriculture from the University of Zimbabwe, an M.S. in agronomy from Southampton University, England and a Ph.D. in crop science from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. She has extensive research experience on organic crop production, cereal, oilseed and pulse crops management, bioenergy crops and dryland cropping systems. Dr. Nleya has 20 years of conducting research on dryland cropping systems in the Northern Great Plains including the incorporation of cover crops and oilseed crops in wheat-based dryland rotations. She is currently working on saline/sodic soil phytoremediation. She also teaches a diverse array of courses at undergraduate and graduate level, including organic plant production, crop physiology and global food systems. Dr. Nleya is currently a Technical Editor for the Agronomy Journal, and was a technical editor for an Agronomy Journal special issue on Near-Term Problems in Meeting World Food Demands at Regional Levels. She has served on a wide range of grant review panels and national committees.

CV

Nleya_Resume_2024.pdf(190.37 KB)

Education

B.S. in agriculture | University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe | 1984
M.S. in agronomy | Southampton University, England | 1988
Ph.D. in crop science | University of Saskatchewan, Canada | 1997

Academic Responsibilities

Teaching
- Undergraduate:
  - Global Food Systems (ABS 203)
  - Organic Plant Production (PS/HO 447/547)
- Graduate:
  - Plant Science Graduate Seminar (PS781)
  - Crop Physiology (PS763)

Committees and Professional Memberships

Committees

Chair, ACS - Emerging Leader and Visionary Scientist for African Agriculture Award Committee. January 2023 - December 2024
Chair, Production Systems, ASA, January - December 2022.
ACS 499.10 Undergraduate Agronomic Travel Study Scholarship Committee, 2019.
ACS 449.8 Student Research Symposium Contest Committee, 2014 - 2015.
Panelist for the USDA-AFRI A1152 “Physiology of Agricultural Plants” - 2023.
Grant panelist for USDA-NIFA-SBIR 8.13. - 2017, 2018, 2020.
Grant panelist for USDA-OREI, 2010.

Professional Memberships

Technical editor, Agronomy Journal, American Society of Agronomy (ASA), 2023 - to present.
Technical editor for Agronomy Journal special issue on “Near-Term Problems in Meeting World Food Demands”, 2021
Associate editor, Agronomy Journal, 2016-2021.
ASA Bioenergy Systems Community, leader, 2018.
ASA Women in Science Committee, 2017 – 2018.
ASA Bioenergy Systems Community, vice leader, 2017.
Manuscript reviewer for Agronomy Journal, Irrigation Science, Crop, Forage and Turfgrass Management, International Journal of Agronomy

Awards and Honors

2017, Associate Editor Excellence Award of the Year, Agronomy Journal
2008, ASA Division A-4 Education Materials Certificate of Excellence for publication Producing and Marketing Proso Millet in the High Plains,

Work Experience

June 2022-Present, professor, Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Department, South Dakota State University.
2008-June 2022, associate professor, Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Department, South Dakota State University.
2003-2007, assistant professor, Department of Plant Science, South Dakota State University.
1997-2003, postdoctoral research associate, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
1993-1997, research assistant, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
1988-1992, research scientist, Ministry of Agriculture, Zimbabwe.

Areas of Research

Cereal, Oilseeds and Pulse Crops Management
Dryland Cropping Systems
Organic Crop Production
Bioenergy Crops

Department(s)

Image for Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science
Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science