Simerjeet Virk
Dr. Simerjeet Virk leads and manages the Digital Ag team at the University of Georgia. He is an assistant professor and Extension Precision Ag Specialist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.
Dr. Virk has a B. Tech. in Agricultural Engineering from Punjab Agricultural University, M.S. in Biosystems Engineering from Auburn University and Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of Georgia.
Visiting Scholar
João Santos
João is from Américo de Campos (Brazil) and has a B.S. degree in Forest Engineering from São Paulo State University. João joined as a visitor scholar in Tifton in Fall 2023.
He actively contributes to the projects by assisting with data collection, processing, and utilizing drone imagery as well as is currently leading and collecting data for a project focused on assessing dry product application with drones.
Connect with João Santos: Email
Graduate Students
Dalton Beasley
Dalton Beasley is from Screven, GA and completed his B.S. in Applied Biotechnology at the University of Georgia.
He is pursuing an M.S. in Crop and Soil Sciences at UGA Tifton campus. His graduate research is evaluating different precision soil sampling methods for site-specific nutrient management and potential of variable-rate application of crop inputs such as seed and PGR in cotton.
Connect with Dalton Beasley: Email
Ashbin Bhat
Ashbin Kumar Bhat is from Nepal and has B.S. degree in Agriculture from Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Tribhuvan University. He is currently pursuing his M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia. He is co-advised by Drs. Virk and Snider.
Ashbin is working on investigating the potential of different remote sensing tools specifically UAV-based multispectral and hyperspectral imagery to predict yield-driving physiological parameters of cotton.
Coleman Byers
Coleman Byers is a native of Tifton, GA and studied environmental engineering from the University of Georgia for his undergraduate program.
He is now pursuing a M.S. degree in agricultural engineering from UGA.
Byers’ research focuses on assessing application performance and parameter optimization for pesticide applications with unmanned aerial systems.
Mohit Kumar
Mohit Kumar is from Haryana, India, and completed his bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences from Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU). He is now pursuing a M.S. degree in Crop and Soil Science at the University of Georgia. He is Co-advised by Drs. Preet Virk and Simer Virk.
Mohit’s graduate research will focused on the application of crop physiology principles and its integration with precision agriculture to improve crop management and productivity.
Ravi Meena
Ravi Meena is from Jaipur, Rajasthan in India and completed his M.S. in Hydrology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering at the University of Georgia.
For his Ph.D. research, Ravi is working on assessing application performance of traditional and advanced sprayer rate control systems for map-based site-specific and variable-rate pesticide applications.
Connect with Ravi Meena : Email
Matt Tucker
Matt Tucker is from Camilla, Georgia. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agriscience and Environmental Systems from the University of Georgia. He is now pursuing a M.S. in Crop and Soil Sciences at UGA.
Tucker’s research project focuses on investigating different precision soil sampling strategies for accurate depiction of soil nutrient variability within the fields, and to improve application accuracy and efficiency of variable-rate fertilizer applications.
Student Assistants
Brent Davis
Brent Davis is from Irwinville, Georgia. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.
Brent started working as a student assistant with the team in Spring 2021 and helps with field work, research equipment/vehicle maintenance and data collection with different ongoing research and Extension projects.
Jarrett Hancock
Jarrett Hancock is from Irwinville, Georgia and participated in the UGA Young Scholar program at the University of Tifton Campus during Summer 2021 and 2022. For his internship in our program, he worked on utilizing high-resolution aerial imagery for weed mapping and implementing a prescriptive pesticide application map for site-specific weed management.
Cooper Sapp
Cooper Sapp is from Dawson , Georgia. He is currently pursuing a B.S. in agriculture technology management from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.
Cooper helps with field work, research equipment/vehicle maintenance and data collection with different ongoing research and Extension projects.
Interns
Madison Weekley
Madison Weekley is from Leesburg, Georgia and participated in the UGA Tifton Young Scholar program in Summer 2021 and 2022. Her research project during internship focused on mapping and predicting spatial yield variability in alfalfa using different in-field and remote sensing approaches. She was mentored by Drs. Virk and Tucker.
Alumni
Michael Goodnight
Michael Goodnight is from Anderson, South Carolina and has a B.S. degree in Agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He obtained his M.S. in Crop and Soil Sciences from the University of Georgia in 2022.
Michael’s thesis research was focused on investigating the influence of different pre-plant dry fertilizer application methods (broadcast vs banding) on corn growth and yield.
Trace Larimer
Trace Larimer is from Covington, Georgia. He earned a B.S. in AgBusiness from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.
Trace started working as a student assistant in the spring of January 2023 and helped with field work, data collection and analysis with different ongoing research and Extension projects.
Amrit Pokhrel
Amrit Pokhrel is from Nepal and completed his undergraduate studies in agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Sciences. He earned an M.S. in Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia. He was co-advised by Drs. Virk and Snider.
Amrit’s graduate research was focused on defining physiological contributions to yield loss in cotton at different nitrogen levels and using aerial imagery from unmanned aerial systems to predict yield-driving physiological parameters of cotton.
Madan Sapkota
Madan Sapkota is from Nepal and completed his undergraduate degree in Agricultural Sciences from the Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in Nepal in 2019. He is currently pursuing his MS degree in Crop and Soil Sciences at the University of Georgia.
Madan’s graduate research was aimed at investigating the influence of application parameters such as spray volume and droplet size, and use of precision technologies on spray performance during pesticide applications in peanut.