Simon Fordyce
Simon Fordyce is a PhD candidate in Earth Sciences at Montana State University (MSU) where he also works as a Research Associate of Cropping Systems in the Department of Research Centers. Broadly, Simon’s research combines proximal and remote sensing to improve water and nutrient retention in wheat-dominated agroecosystems. Simon received both his B.S. and M.S from the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at MSU, where he studied nitrogen retention in leaching-susceptible soils of the Judith River Watershed, Montana. Currently based at the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center near Moccasin, Montana, Simon integrates small-plot field experiments with high-resolution satellite data to conduct regionally extensive studies of water and nutrient retention in dryland grain and forage systems. Simon’s research strives to identify agronomic practices with potential to improve economic and environmental sustainability in cool, semi-arid climates, including cropping systems diversification and fallow replacement, stubble management for soil health and snow capture, and precision farming strategies.
Degrees Held:
B.S. Land Resources & Environmental Science – Soil and Water Science
M.S. Land Resources & Environmental Science
Degree Sought:
PhD – Earth Sciences
Advisors:
Dr. Eric Sproles
Dr. Patrick Carr
Research Project:
Remotely-sensed plant available water as impacted by crop sequence and use in a drought-susceptible agroecosystem
Preferred Email Address:
Research and Professional Experience:
2016- Research Associate, Central Ag. Research Center, Montana State University
2015-2016 Research Assistant III, Land Res. & Environ. Sci., Montana State University
2012-2015 Research Assistant, Land Res. & Environ. Sci., Montana State University
Selected Awards:
2022 Graduate School Land Grant Excellence Award – Montana State University
2022 Top Downloaded Article – Agricultural and Environmental Letters
2018 Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Grant Recipient
2014 Undergraduate Scholars Program Research Grant Recipient
2011-2012 Norman H. Asbjornson Scholarship Recipient
2011 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Recipient
Publications:
Carr PM, Boss DL, Chen C, Dafoe JM, Eberly JO, Fordyce S, Hydner RM, Fryer HK, Lachowiec JA, Lamb PF, McVay KA (2020). Warm‐season forage options in Northern Dryland Regions. Agronomy Journal. 1–15. doi: 10.1002/agj2.20261
Carr P, Fordyce SI, Lachowiec J, Bishop S, Fryer HK, Dahlhausen S (2021). Replacing fallow with warm‐season annual crops in dryland wheat systems. Agronomy Journal, 113(5), 4142-4160. doi: org/10.1002/agj2.20809.
Fordyce S, Torrion J, Lachowiec J, Miller P, Biddulph B, Carr P (2018). Field evidence for frost-induced cross-stress tolerance in canola. Agricultural & Environmental Letters. 3:180020. doi:10.2134/ael2018.05.0020
Fordyce S, Jones CA, Dahlhausen SJ, Lachowiec J, Eberly JO, Sherman JD, McPhee KE, Carr PM (2020). A simple cultivar suitability index for low‐pH agricultural soils. Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 5(3):20036. doi: 10.1002/ael2.20036
Fordyce SI (2022). Spatial patterns in soil depth and implications for offseason nitrogen dynamics in dryland wheat systems of central Montana (Master’s Thesis, Montana State University-Bozeman, College of Agriculture).
Fordyce S, Carr PM, Jones C, Eberly J, Sigler WA, Ewing S, Powell S (2023). Sentinel-2-based predictions of soil depth to inform water and nutrient retention strategies in dryland wheat. Agricultural Water Management, 289, 108524.
Miller PR, Atencio SC, Jones CA, Carr PM, Eriksmoen E, Franck W, Rickertsen J, Fordyce SI... (in press) Inoculant and fertilizer effects on lentil in the Northern Great Plains. Agronomy Journal.