Current Project Leaders
The Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab has the opportunity to work with the following researchers on projects in focus countries.
David Ader
Principal Investigator of "S3-Cambodia: Scaling Suitable Sustainable Technologies" - Cambodia 
Dr. David Ader works as an interdisciplinary scholar in the fields of sustainable agriculture and rural development. He currently works as the Assistant Director and Research Assistant Professor in the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Tennessee. His expertise and research interests include population dynamics of rural communities, sustainable agriculture development for smallholder farmers, and nutrition sensitive agricultural approaches for development. Ader holds a dual PH.D from Penn State University in Rural Sociology and Demography. His current research focuses on rural communities in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America.
Email: dader@utk.edu
Krishna Jagadish
Krishna Jagadish SV is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University and a Crop Physiologist. He co-leads the polder project in Bangladesh and is in charge of the overall management of the project and implementation of the work plan. Jagadish earned his M.S. degree in agronomy from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad, India and his Ph.D. in crop physiology from the University of Reading in the U.K. He has an extensive knowledge of crop physiological and agronomic aspects related to rice, wheat, sorghum, soybean and canola and their responses to different abiotic stresses, yield and grain quality dynamics and is actively involved in projects involving South Asia. Dr. Jagadish is an Associate Editor for Agronomy Journal and Field Crops Research. Dr. Jagadish has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has mentored more than 25 M.S. and Ph.D. students during his tenure at IRRI, Philippines and K-State, USA.
Email: kjagadish@ksu.edu
Sudhir Yadav
Co-Principal Investigator of "Pathways of Scaling Agricultural Innovations for Sustainable Intensification in the Polders of Coastal Bangladesh" - Bangladesh
Sudhir Yadav currently works as Senior Scientist at the Sustainable Impact Platform of IRRI and heading the soil, climate, and water cluster. He co-leads the polder project in Bangladesh and will contribute to integrated water management, agronomy, and environmental sustainability. With M.S degree in agronomy (from Punjab Agricultural University, India) and PhD in water management (from the University of Adelaide, Australia), he has been engaged in the full spectrum of basic, strategic, and applied research to unravel insights and develop water-smart technologies, irrigation advisories, water governance framework, and engage in policy dialogues to help in addressing challenges of food-energy-water nexus.
Along with a focus on research and development, SY has a strong inclination toward knowledge sharing through the mentorship of next-generation scientists. He has advised 4 Ph.D. and 6 MS students and currently working with 2 Ph.D. and 1 MS students. He has published widely in refereed journals, books, and magazines and has contributed to a vast array of international conferences and workshops. Visit https://www.irri.org/about-us/our-people/sudhir-yadav
Email: sudhir.yadav@uq.edu.au
Aliou Faye
Co-Principal Investigator of "Improving Food and Nutrition Security of Smallholder of Agro-Pastoral Farming Systems by Integrating Crop-Livestock-Human Nutrition in Senegal and Niger" - Senegal and Niger
Aliou Faye has two decades of research experience with the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA), the French Institute of Research for Development and the International Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Development (CIRAD). Faye worked also for 5 years as Chief of Agency of a Saudi group dealing with non-timber forest products in the Tambacounda and Louga regions of Senegal. Faye holds a B.S. in Tropical Forestry, a M.S. in Agronomy, and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar with field experience at the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (CIAT) in Nairobi Kenya. Faye has published at least 20 research articles in different scientific journals. Faye is currently the head of the Soil-Water and Plant Laboratory of the Centre National de la Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) of ISRA in Bambey, Senegal and serves as the Country Coordinator of the SIIL in Senegal.
Doohong Min
Co-Principal Investigator of "Improving Food and Nutrition Security of Smallholder of Agro-Pastoral Farming Systems by Integrating Crop-Livestock-Human Nutrition in Senegal and Niger" - Senegal and Niger
Doohong Min, Assistant Professor of Forage Agronomy at Kansas State University is the leader of the smallholder farmers project in Senegal. Min has over 25 year experiences of forage production, management and utilization. He earned his B.S. degree in dairy science from Sungkyunkwan University, his M.S. in plant science from the University of Alberta and animal science from Seoul National University and his Ph.D. in agronomy from the University of Maryland. Min also has had West African experiences through a couple of trips to Niger and Senegal and meetings with scientists from national research institutes and university, smallholder farmers and farmers’ organizations.
Email: dmin@ksu.edu
Ignacio Ciampitti
Principal Investigator of "Digital and Geospatial Tools Consortium - Building a new era of Predictive Agricultural Innovation to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers"
Ignacio Ciampitti is an associate professor and Integrated Farming Systems/ Agronomist in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University. Dr. Ciampitti earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Buenos Aires, and his Ph.D. degree from Purdue University. His program focuses on integrating field, statistics, remote sensing and modeling research for understanding plant responses. Dr. Ciampitti serves as an associate editor for Crop Science, Editorial Board for Field Crops Research, European Journal of Agronomy, and Remote Sensing. Dr. Ciampitti serves as a director for the Consortium, in charge of the overall management and coordination. In addition, he leads the crop modeling section, integration of data products with remote sensing and assists on examine innovations and integration of data products.
Email: ciampitti@ksu.edu
Prasanta Kalita
Principal Investigator of "Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) for Sustainable Intensification"
Dr. Prasanta Kalita is a professor of agricultural & biological engineering, and a Presidential Fellow of the University of Illinois System. He provides leadership and develops and coordinates research priorities for the Discovery Partners Institute for the Water and Environment Group. He previously served as the director of the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, and Assistant Dean of Research in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and Indian Society for Agricultural Engineering (ISAE), Dr. Kalita’s areas of research include water resources management and environmental sustainability, food security, agricultural mechanization, food loss and waste reduction, and water quality. He is widely recognized for his excellence in teaching, research, and international engagement. He has worked extensively in educational development and capacity building, water resources, food production, and food security issues around the world. He has published more than 200 articles in journals and conferences and served as editor-in-chief and associate editor for three international journals.
Email: pkalita@illinois.edu
Lyda Hok
Director of “The Center of Excellence on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Nutrition-CE SAIN” - Cambodia
Lyda Hok is the CE SAIN Director at the Royal University of Agriculture. Hok earned his B.S. in Agronomy from the Royal University of Agriculture, M.S. in Agronomy from Khon Kaen University and his Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from North Carolina A&T State University. Hok is directing CE SAIN to join efforts to improve food and nutritional security in Cambodia by supporting agricultural research and education and also fostering innovation. He has a proven history of multiple project collaboration with various national and international partners. He has also engaged and led various research on soil organic matter management in crop production systems utilizing various tools and methods to assess soil health changes in different agricultural management practices, particularly conservation agriculture cropping systems.
Email: hoklyda@rua.edu.kh
Carl Pray
Principal Investigator of "Policy Research Consortium"
Carl Pray is a Distinguished Professor in the Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Department, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. He earned his PhD in Economic History from the University of Pennsylvania. The focus of his research is agricultural science and technology policy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The results of his research have been published in 80+ articles in journals such as Science, Nature, Economic Development and Cultural Change, and Research Policy as well as eight books and 45 book chapters. He is the President of ICABR, the International Consortium for Applied Bioeconomy Research.
Email: cpray@sebs.rutgers.edu
Mywish Maredia
"Economic Impact of Improved Bean Varieties in Central America and USA"
Mywish K. Maredia is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. She has over 25 years of experience conducting research and capacity building activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her work focuses on the nexus of agricultural economics, food policy, international development, and impact evaluation. She has led several research initiatives involving field experiments and extensive data collection on a wide range of topics, including nutrition and value chain, application of information and communications technologies, technology adoption, seed system development, agricultural extension, and food system transformation. Mywish has worked as a consultant with many international organizations, served as the Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy from 2016-2020, Associate Director of the USAID funded Bean/Cowpea and Dry Grain Pulses CRSP from 2000-2009, and as a member of the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment of the CGIAR’s Science Council from 2006-2011. She was the recipient of the Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award in 1994 from the American Agricultural Economics Association.
Email: maredia@msu.edu
Byron Reyes
"Economic Impact of Improved Bean Varieties in Central America and USA"
Byron Reyes is a Scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). He has nine years of experience in economic studies and the assessment of the impact of agricultural research and technologies in developing countries at the national and regional levels. While his research has mainly focused in Latin America (LAC), he also has experience in Africa and more recently, Asia. His current work involves collaboration with researchers from various institutions and universities in the LAC region, US universities and research centers from other continents, and is part of the HarvestPlus Program. Dr. Reyes has led various research projects involving field activities with farmers and stakeholders along the value chain, and has collaborated in or led studies involving field experiments, randomized controlled trials, nutrition, evaluation of the impact of information and communication technologies, as well as the adoption of agricultural technologies. He was a research assistant at the PanAmerican University Zamorano in Honduras (2000-2005), and an Outreach Specialist (2012) and Assistant Professor (2012-2014) at Michigan State University, prior to joining CIAT.
Anwar Naseem
Policy Research Consortium
Anwar Naseem is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics at Rutgers University where he manages the Feed the Future Policy Research Consortium. His broad research interests include agricultural development, science/innovation policy and market structure/performance as they relate to agricultural input markets. Anwar’s research has examined the economic impacts of private investments in agriculture, especially those directed towards research and development activities. He earned his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Michigan State University, M.Sc. from the University of Pennsylvania and B.Sc. from McGill University.
Email: anwar.naseem@rutgers.edu
Past Project Leaders (2014-2019)
Augustine Ayantunde
Augustine Ayantunde is a Senior Animal Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and is the leader of the production systems project in Burkina Faso. Ayantunde earned his M.S. in tropical animal production and his Ph.D. in ruminant nutrition from Wageningen Agricultural University. He has 20 years of experience in ruminant nutrition and evaluation of feed resources in the West African Sahel, in participatory testing and evaluation of livestock-related options for sustainable intensification of crop-livestock systems in West Africa, evaluation and monitoring of natural resource use in pastoral and agro-pastoral systems, assessment of vulnerability of agro-pastoral systems to climate change and conflict management.
Email: a.ayantunde@cgiar.org
Ricky Bates
Ricky Bates is a Professor of Horticulture at Pennsylvania State University and is leading the WAgN project in Cambodia. Bates earned his M.S. degree in horticulture from West Virginia University and his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He aspires to use horticultural science as a tool to increase the profitability of horticulture enterprises, protect and restore the environment and alleviate poverty in developing parts of the world. Bates has worked in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe since 2000 and directs all horticulture aspects of this project.
Email: rmb30@psu.edu
Neville Clarke
Neville Clarke, Senior Borlaug Institute Fellow, is leading the SIPS-NO project in Ethiopia. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Washington and his DVM from Texas A&M University. Clarke has more than thirty years’ experience in agricultural research and development including team leadership for USAID funded projects in East and West Africa and as a senior administrator of large international projects. He has extensive experience in organizing and leading teams of interdisciplinary research and extension workers in both national and international settings. He has been a senior administrator in the U.S. Air Force, the land grant university system as well as in the centers of the Consultative Group for International Agriculture. He has extensive experience in grant management, communications, public relations and supervision of interdisciplinary teams of researchers. Dr. Clarke is also the director of the USAID Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation.
Email: n-clarke@tamu.edu
Alan Hansen
Principal Investigator of "Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) for Sustainable Intensification" 
Dr. Alan Hansen was the Interim Head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ABE) until the end of April 2019, serving since January 2017. He joined the ABE faculty in 1999, and his teaching has focused on topics associated with off-road machinery engineering and management. He has received more than a dozen campus and national awards for teaching excellence. Hansen's expertise in research and outreach includes biofuels, off-road machinery systems engineering, land preparation, resource utilization, and agricultural machinery and tool design for small-scale application. From Ocober 2015 to September 2019 he served as the Director of the Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium. As project lead for ASMC, Hansen traveled to Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia and Ethiopia to help smallholder farmers learn how to grow more food on the land that they have while protecting the natural resources required for its production. Hansen, a native of Zimbabwe, is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where he earned his B.Sc. Engineering (Mechanical) in 1975, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering in 1978 and 1990. He has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and he is a full member of the Club of Bologna, a world task-force on the strategies for the development of agricultural mechanization.
Email: achansen@illinois.edu
Sieg Snapp
Principal Investigator of "Raising crop response: bidirectional learning to catalyze sustainable intensification at multiple scales" - Tanzania
Sieg Snapp, Professor at Michigan State University, is the leader of the crop response project in Tanzania. Snapp earned her M.S. degree in crop physiology from the University of Minnesota and her Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis. Through a Global Change Learning Lab she is leading a novel approach to supporting learning communities to address real world problems in a rapidly changing world. She is internationally known for gender-aware participatory action research approaches that systematically link qualitative and quantitative knowledge for agricultural-systems development, and leading initiatives on agronomic design of sustainable intensification technologies. She was recently awarded the international service award by the American Society of Agronomy, and has over two decades of experience with cropping systems and soil science in Africa and North America. She supervises many advanced degree African students, and has extensive experience managing complex, interdisciplinary research projects in partnership with CGIAR and national partners from academia, public and private sectors.
Email: snapp@msu.edu