Each fall the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri welcomes new faculty members who are ready to immerse themselves in teaching, research and Extension as integral parts of furthering our land-grant mission. Our six new faculty members bring a wealth of knowledge in their respective fields, and will be proudly welcomed into four of our six divisions: Animal Sciences, Applied Social Sciences, Food Systems & Bioengineering and Natural Resources. Our college is proud to introduce the new faculty members joining us for fall 2020:
Michelle Brimecombe
Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Natural Resources
Brimecombe comes to CAFNR from Curry College and University of Massachusetts – Amherst as a business management professor at both institutions. Her area of interest is sport and recreation management. While at Curry College, Brimecombe initiated a major proposal to build such a program, including 10 new courses and the accompanying strategic plan, financial analysis and projected student enrollment. She received a Ph.D. in Sport Management from Florida State University. In addition to her academic achievements, she also coached youth soccer and carried out administrative duties for the youth rugby association in Massachusetts. Brimecombe can be reached at mjbyk3@missouri.edu.
Morgan Davis
Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources
Before joining CAFNR, Davis taught courses in watershed management, natural resource ecology and soil science at Iowa State University. He is the Principal Investigator of a USDA-NIFA funded postdoctoral fellowship grant to examine linkages between soil health and environmental quality in corn-soybean rotations. He received a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Iowa State University. Areas of research interest include soil nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and the sustainability of managed and natural ecosystems. This fall, he will be teaching Introduction to Environmental Science. In the spring semester, he will teach Soil Chemistry and Pollutant Fate and Transport. Davis can be reached at mpdavis@missouri.edu.
Kiho Lee
Associate Professor, Division of Animal Sciences
Lee returns to CAFNR as an associate professor in Animal Sciences, the same division in which he completed his post-doctoral fellowship from 2011 to 2013. Before re-joining CAFNR for the fall 2020 semester, Lee worked in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech as associate professor. His research interest involves designing humanized pig models for translational research and his work will be a part of the UM System’s NextGen Precision Health Initiative. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University, focused on reproductive physiology. You can reach Lee at kiholee@missouri.edu.
Kent Shannon
Assistant Teaching Professor, Division of Food Systems & Bioengineering
Shannon joins the Division of Food Systems & Bioengineering, teaching courses in Agricultural Systems Technology. Shannon transitions to CAFNR classrooms from his previous role with MU Extension as a field specialist in agricultural engineering, serving Boone County. He received both his B.S. and M.S. in agricultural engineering from the University of Missouri. Areas of specialization include precision agriculture, on-farm research, use of drones in agriculture, pesticide application technologies and agriculture machinery management. You can reach Shannon at shannond@missouri.edu.
Pavel Somavat
Assistant Professor, Division of Food Systems & Bioengineering
Somavat joins CAFNR from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. There, he taught courses in food science and researched natural food colors, grain and biomass processing. Somavat also taught courses in electrical engineering at CCS Haryana Agricultural University in India, while heading a research lab focused on application of electronic sensors in food and agricultural engineering. He received a Ph.D. in Agricultural & Biological Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently working on economical extraction of polyphenolic compounds from pigmented corn and their novel applications. Somavat can be reached at psbvb@missouri.edu.
Alan Spell
Assistant Extension Professor, Division of Applied Social Sciences
Spell is part of the Division of Applied Social Sciences. His research focuses on applied industry and regional economic development studies. He has worked in economic/workforce development for over 20 years in various roles to include labor and industry research, land planning, and economic impact modeling. He holds degrees in economics and landscape architecture, as well as certification as an Economic Research Professional. Prior to joining CAFNR in January 2020, Spell led the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) at the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. You can reach Spell at alan.spell@missouri.edu.