Dr. Nicole Wagner
Assistant Professor – Crop and Soil Science
Dr. Nicole Wagner's research focuses on controlled environment agriculture systems, fruit and vegetable crop production, and nutrient recycling through organic waste. She also serves as Graduate Program Coordinator of the M.S. program in Integrated Agricultural Sciences, which educates students on multidisciplinary challenges in food and agriculture.
Dr. Wagner is currently the co-principal investigator of the $1 million USDA funded project, “EverGreen: A Cross-Disciplinary Research-Based Education Program for Hispanic Students at the Food-Water-Energy Intersection”. EverGreen includes the development of a shipping container farm and greenhouse laboratory focused on soilless farming methods and the incorporation of renewable energy and automation technology. In 2018, Dr. Wagner served as the principal investigator for Texas State Small Producer’s Initiative, which addresses the instructional, communication, and resource gaps for small, minority and veteran farmers and ranchers.
Upon completing her Ph.D., Dr. Wagner became a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Crop Assessment Analyst in Washington D.C. In this position, she forecast the production of the major agricultural commodities of all South American countries, with an emphasis on Brazil and Argentina. In 2006, she became an International Economist at USDA in Washington D.C. where she developed briefing materials for and organized Cabinet and senior executive-level meetings in Washington D.C. and abroad concerning agricultural trade policy issues, with an emphasis on NAFTA. In 2008, Dr. Wagner was a member of the U.S. government’s delegation to the United Nations "High-Level Conference on World Food Security" in Rome.
Dr. Wagner’s has farm production experience on a 5000-acre corn-soy farm in Minnesota, a diversified organic vegetable farm in Montana, and the largest organic dairy in Montana.
Education:
Ph.D. Land Resources and Environmental Sciences concentration in agro-ecological modeling, quantitative methods/statistics, Montana State University
M.S. Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, minor in Horticulture, University of Minnesota
B.S. Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Minnesota
Courses taught:
- AG 1100 - Careers in Agriculture
- AG 2310 - Applied Leadership Principles
- AG 2313 - Agronomic Crops
- AG 2379 - General Horticulture
- AG 3319 - International Food and Fiber Systems
- AG 3246 - Soils I
- AG 5324 - Agroecology
Research interests:
- Controlled environment agriculture systems
- Fruit and vegetable crop production
- Nutrient recycling through organic waste