Ranae Dietzel

Since 1983.

Researcher

I began as a biologist, took an interest in soils, and now think about how soils and plants interact at a molecular to field scale both during and after the life of the plant. Modeling helps me think -- I use APSIM and R.

Iowan

My roots are in Iowa and I am passionate about reconciling differences in agricultural production, environmental quality, and rural quality of life in our state. My husband (mostly) and I are seeing if we can make a grass-based dairy operation work in Central Iowa.

Person

I have a great husband and two amazing kids. Both sets of my grandparents and almost all of their kids/grandkids/great-grandkids live within 50 miles of me, which is nice. I used to have a lot of fun hobbies and I'm sure I will again someday.

What I Do

I made this website as part of a fellowship application. This paragraph is the only thing I have updated in the last four years. I'm currently an Agronomy Data Scientist for Syngenta (since 2019), and need to fill in this site accordingly! But feel free to enjoy this old snapshot.

NIFA-ELI Fellow

We do not know enough about what goes on in temperate-region soil during the winter. As a NIFA-ELI Fellow, I am going to tackle this problem all the way to modeling spring-thaw nitrous oxide fluxes.

Soil C Dynamics

My PhD focused on differences in soil C dynamics between corn and prairie cropping systems. I am continuing this work by focusing on the effect of depth on C loss and/or stabilization in these two contrasting systems. I plan to use the soilR package for soil C model intercomparison.

Integrated Cropping Systems Lab

I am extremely fortunate to work in this great lab group! This link will take you to everything we do and some wonderful online tools. I highly recommend clicking here.

Data Stewardship Co-instructor

Data and R are a big part of my life. I want to help scientists like myself be better at what we do. In Fall 2016, I teamed up with a data skills master to teach soil-plant-atmosphere grad students how to deal with data.

Things I did (CV)

My BA at University of Minnesota-Morris, my Master's at Cornell, my PhD at Iowa State, and some really great jobs along the way. Plus publications!

Things I don't do

Clean my house. Exercise. Read fiction. Shop. USPS. Return borrowed items. Carry a wallet.

Get in touch

It would be cool if you followed me on twitter. Email is a great way to reach me. Or there is this form.