Post-tenure Review
Nicholas S. Hill, Professor
August 6, 2012
Nicholas S. Hill
Assistant Prof. 1/86-7/92
Associate Prof. 7/92-7/96
Professor 7/96-present
Teaching: 25%
Research: 75%
Extension: 0%
Research:
Fescue endophyte and toxicosis
Endophyte survival
Alkaloid metabolism/transport
Animal reproduction
Fusarium Head Blight
Analytics (ELISA) and implications for breeding
Develop QTL’s for molecular analysis (NDSU/USDA)
Pasture-based Dairies
Pasture systems modeling/gaming
Fate of nitrogen
Carbon dynamics
Grazing Management
Validation of systems modeling/gaming
Corn!!!
Fescue Endophyte and Toxicosis
% viable endophyte in seed
120
100
80
60
40
Flecha 542
Jesup 584
Jesup 542
20
Advance 542
0
Months after harvest
Endophyte survival during seed storage in different cultivars of
tall fescue containing endophyte AR542, and in Jesup tall
fescue containing endophytes AR542 and AR584.
% viable endophye in seed
100
80
60
Flecha AR542
40
20
Jesup AR542 C1
Jesup AR542 C0
Jesup Wild
0
0 2 3 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Months after harvest
Seed survival of Cycle 1 (C1) Jesup tall fescue populations with
Seed survival of Cycle 1 (C1) Jesup tall fescue population with
endophytes AR542 and AR584 compared to the parent
endophyte
AR542(C0),
compared
to theAR542,
parentand
population
(C0),
with
populations
Flecha with
Jesup with
itsFlecha
wild type
AR542,
and Jesup
withstored
its wild
type
endophyte
when
oC. stored for 22
endophyte
when
for
22
months
at
30
months at 30oC.
% viable endophye in seed
100
80
60
Flecha AR542
40
20
Jesup AR584C1
Jesup AR584 C0
Jesup Wild
0
0 2 3 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Months after harvest
Seed survival of Cycle 1 (C1) Jesup tall fescue populations with
Seed survival of Cycle 1 (C1) Jesup tall fescue population with
endophytes AR542 and AR584 compared to the parent
endophyte
AR584(C0),
compared
to theAR542,
parentand
population
(C0),
with
populations
Flecha with
Jesup with
itsFlecha
wild type
AR542,
and Jesup
withstored
its wild
type
endophyte
when
oC. stored for 22
endophyte
when
for
22
months
at
30
months at 30oC.
ns
ns
In vivo transport of fescue-derived ergot alkaloids into the
circulatory system from different gastric sources.
2.5
Mucosal
Serosal
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Parts per billion
Parts per billion
140
Mucosal
2
Serosal
1.5
1
0.5
0
Ruminal
Omasal
Ruminal
Omasal
In vitro transport of lysergic acid (L) or ergovaline (R) across
ruminal and omasal tissues
Pasture-Based Dairies
Aerial photograph showing land use conversion
from row crop to MiGD farms.
The southeast represents 32% of the nation's
population and is growing at a rate faster than the
national average yet has the lowest per capita milk
production.
Population trends of dairy cows on pasture vs.
total cow numbers in Georgia. Similar trends
are occurring in Missouri and North Carolina.
Total soil carbon (a) increased across the MiGD chronosequence with the greatest increases
occurring between 3 and 5 yrs since conversion from row-crops. These C increases were
limited to the upper 40cm of the soil, with minimal change occurring at depth. C is
isotopically enriched in the surface horizons (b) consistent with increased carbon inputs
from roots (or manure) inputs. Reflection of these same trends in the clay fraction (c) and (d)
suggests new carbon additions become rapidly associated with soil minerals.
Using Durana White Clover as a Living
Mulch/N Source for Corn Production
Establishment Methods
Clover Suppression
N Dynamics
Weed Counts
SPAD Readings
Stand Counts
Plots received 0.75 lbs/A ai Roundup
5 days prior to picture (30 DAP)
Plots received 0.75 lbs/A ai Roundup
12 days prior to picture (37 DAP)
Dry matter (kg/ha)
12000
10000
Corn
8000
Clover
6000
4000
2000
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Days after planting
Biomass relationships between corn when notill planted into Durana clover (band sprayed)
Clover re-growth within a canopy of maturing corn
on July 29
Teaching:
Crop Science CRSS 2010/2010L (yearly)
Forage/Pasture Management CRSS 4260 (even years)
Terror in the Food Supply (yearly)
Teaching:
Crop Science CRSS 2010/2010L (yearly)
1) Great professor, and a fun class. Dr. Nick made a otherwise boring class into an
interesting one with his enthusiasm and his great personality. I also like his grading
style and his fairness. One of the best if not the best professor I have had while at
UGA, too bad he doesn't teach in my major.
2) Nick is an excellent teacher who's always willing to answer questions and provide
help to students inside or outside of class. He's one of those teachers who truly
wants every single one of his students to succeed and even provided job and
internship opportunities occasionally. He's an excellent teacher who I would love to
have another class with.
3) Enjoyed the material in the course by did not like the essay tests
4) One of the best, most useful courses I have had the opportunity to take at UGA.
The professor was able to present the information in a way that was easy to
understand and also showed us how relevant the material was to our future careers.
5) The tests covered only a relatively small amount that was covered in class, and it
was hard to study for the test. also, while fill in the blanks test your knowledge more
that multiple choice tests, at the same time, the questions were so focused on one
certain thing, rather than testing the knowledge of all the subject material learned in
class.
Teaching:
Forage/Pasture Management CRSS 4260 (even years)
1) Great class and Great teach. One of the best teachers I have had.
2) Loved this class, I learned a lot and it opened my mind to the
possibilities of utilizing exclusively forage in an animal production
system. I had always thought that grain was necessary because that's
how the industry was introduced to me.
3) Using pop quizzes as a tool to gauge students comprehension of the
covered materials was a weakness in the course, especially since they
accounted for 50% of the grade. Overall I really enjoyed the course
4) Very interesting class with one of the best professors I've ever had
Teaching:
Terror in the Food Supply (yearly)
1) A lot of the material that we covered in class seemed like it was a little bit too
in-depth. I wasn't aware that there was as much biology and other science
related material included in this class. The instructor was very enthusiastic about
the material and introduced examples that were useful to help understand the
material better.
2) Great course. Every person of every major should take it. Very informative.
3) Great course. I have learned so much about our agriculture and all the threats
associated with our food supply. I would recommend this class to anyone
interested in what they are eating and how it gets from the farm to the dinner
table.
4) Awesome class!!
5) Dr. Hill does a marvelous job with this course. There is no other professor that
could do it justice.
6) Excellent!
7) I loved the class. Nick does an amazing job at explaining things that may not
be clear to those who are not ag. majors and to those of us that are ag majors.
This class is required for my certificate and I am so glad that I took this class.
Grants
Pasture-Based Dairies
USDA/SARE
NZ Dairy Systems LLC
Greenstone Grazing LLC
USDA-NASA
Corn Research
Pennington Seed
GA Corn Commission
Teaching
USDA-HEC
Total
$249,534 (PI)
14,200 (Co-PI)
249,480 (PI)
186,310 (PI)
561,000 (Co-PI)
3,800 (PI)
8,768 (PI)
147,047 (PI)
$1,420,139