Curriculum Vitae

Austin Pearce

Modified

January 2, 2024

Email

Employment

Agronomic Data Scientist/Staff Scientist | Oct 2022 - Present

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, Washington, DC

  • Serve as staff scientist
  • Develop and improve sustainability metrics
    • For example, the proposed biodiversity metric: WILD Index
  • Develop data analyst training for members
  • Develop R based packages and tools for metrics and result analysis

Postdoctoral Research Scholar | Sep 2020 - Sep 2022

w/ Deanna Osmond, Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, NC State University, Raleigh, NC

  • Part of team of soil fertility experts developing national Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool
  • Lead studies on the process of soil test correlation and calibration
  • Wrote R code for reproducible statistical analysis of fertilizer trial data, including contributions to the soiltestcorr R package

Graduate Research Assistant | July 2017 - Aug 2020

w/ Rory Maguire, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

  • Surveyed 58 Virginia dairy farms in new effort to calculate farm phosphorus balances and help farms increase P use efficiency
  • Developed data analysis and reporting workflow with R/RMarkdown
  • Present work at multiple stakeholder meetings and conferences
  • Publish extension paper on P balance results
  • Coursework in statistics, soil chemistry, farm finance
  • Assist with soil chemistry course

Graduate Research Assistant | Jan 2015 - June 2017

w/ Neil Hansen, Dept. of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

  • Used spatiotemporal approaches and analytical chemistry for finding nonpoint source phosphorus pollution in a mixed-use montane watershed in north, central Utah (thesis)
  • Coursework in hydrogeology, remote sensing, environmental chemistry

Laboratory Assistant Manager | May 2014 - May 2017

Environmental Analytical Laboratory, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

  • Oversaw daily operation of analytical lab and the students and researchers it supported
  • Analyzed of soil, sediment, plant, water, and biosolid samples
  • Proficient with common analytical instruments (ICP-OES, AAS, CN combustion analyzer, Hach Lachat FIA).
  • Training and mentoring of 50+ undergraduate workers and researchers
  • Performed quality control, prepared reports, and communicated lab results to both commercial and research customers.

Research Assistant | January 2013 - March 2014

Dr. Ryan Stewart, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

  • Developed a climate envelope for predicting distribution of Agave utahensis, after self-driven training of ArcGIS and species modeling software

Education

PhD Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences
July 2017 - August 2020

MS Environmental Science
Jan 2015 - June 2017

BS Environmental Science
Sep 2007 - June 2008; Sep 2011 - Dec 2014

  • Graduated December 2014 with 3.7 GPA

Skills

Professional

  • Statistics and data analysis with R
  • Field work: soil sampling, farm visiting, streamflow gauge installation and measurements
  • Science Communication

Hardware

  • Lachat QuikChem FIA, LECO CN Elemental Analyzer, Perkin Elmer F-AAS, Thermo Fisher ICP-OES, Milestone Microwave Digestion System
  • DSLR/M digital cameras
  • Computer building
  • Ham radio

Software

  • R & RStudio, SAS JMP for statistics
  • GitHub for code collaboration
  • ENVI, ERDAS IMAGINE, Esri ArcGIS, QGIS, MaxEnt for geospatial work
  • Photoshop and image processing
  • Microsoft OS and Office

Certificates

Other

  • Oral communcation and presentation
  • Data visualization
  • Field work
  • Photographer
  • Birder
  • Amateur radio operator
  • Speak Tagalog (Filipino) adequately
  • Decent home chef

Teaching

Environmental Chemistry Lab (BYU, PWS 406, 1 cr)

This one credit course couples various principles of environmental analysis with laboratory experience. Students learn about and perform field sampling, sample preparation, chemical analyses, analytical instrumentation, and data interpretation within the context of environmental research.

Mentored Learning Experience (BYU; PWS 494R; 1-6 cr.)

This course provided undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn sample preparation and laboratory procedures pertinent to environmental research and quality testing. Conducted in the BYU Environmental Analytical Lab.

Publications

Lyons, S. E., Clark, J. D., Osmond, D. L., Parvej, M. R., Pearce, A. W., Slaton, N. A., & Spargo, J. T. (2023). Current status of US soil test phosphorus and potassium recommendations and analytical methods. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 87(4), 985–998. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20536

Bolster, C.H., Correndo A, Spargo, J.T., Pearce, A.W., Osmond, D.L., Slaton, N.A. (2022) A spreadsheet for determining critical soil test values using the modified arcsine-log calibration curve. Soil Sci Soc Am J. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20498

Correndo, A., Pearce, A., Bolster, C., Spargo, J., Osmond, D., Ciampitti, I. (2022) The soiltestcorr R package: An accessible framework for reproducible correlation analysis of crop yield and soil test data. SoftwareX. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2022.101275

Pearce, A.W., Slaton, N.A., Lyons, S.E., Bolster, C.H., Bruulsema, T.W., Grove, J.H., Jones, J.D., McGrath, J.M., Miguez, F.E., Nelson, N.O., Osmond, D.L., Parvej, M.R., Pena-Yewtukhiw, E.M. and Spargo, J.T. (2022), Defining relative yield for soil test correlation and calibration trials in the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool. Soil Sci Soc Am J. https://doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20450

Correndo A, Pearce A, Ciampitti I (2022). soiltestcorr: Soil Test Correlation and Calibration. R package version 2.1.1, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=soiltestcorr.

(dataset) Spargo, J. T., Lyons, S. E., Clark, J. D., Osmond, D. L., Parvej, R. Md., Pearce, A. W., Slaton, N. A., Saffire, D., Alford, S., Allen, T., Arnall, B., Buob, T., Camberato, J. J., Cardon, G., Culman, S, W., Davenport, J. R., Fernandez, F. G., Florence, R., Flynn, R., Franzen, D., Geisseler, D., Grove, J., Hardy, D., Heckman, J., Hopkins, B., Hoskins, B., Hue, N. V., Huluka, G., Jones, C., Jones, K., Kaiser, D. E., Kalmbach, B., Ketterings, Q. M., Laboski, C. A. M., Lessl, J., Lucas, E., Maguire, R., Mahler, R., Mallerino, A., Margenot, A., McGrath, J. M., Miller, R., Moore, A. D., Morris, T. F., Mylavarapu, R., Nathan, M., Nelson, N. O., Norton, J., Pena-Yewtukhiw, E., Pettinelli, D., Provin, T., Radin, A., Ross, D., Saunders, O., Self, J., Shober, A. L., Sonon, L., Sotomayor, D. R., Stammer, A., Steinke, K., Toor, G., Walworth, J., Wang, J. J., Wortmann, C., Zhang, H. (2022). A survey to evaluate the current status of land grant university and state department of agriculture soil fertility recommendations and analytical methods. Ag Data Commons. doi.org/10.15482/USDA.ADC/1526506

Lyons, S. E., Arthur, D. K., Slaton, N. A., Pearce, A. W., Spargo, J. T., Osmond, D. L., & Kleinman, P. J. A. (2021). Development of a soil test correlation and calibration database for the USA. Agric Environ Lett, 6, e20008. doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20058

Slaton, N. A., Lyons, S. E., Osmond, D. L., Brouder, S. M., Culman, S. W., Drescher, G., Gatiboni, L. C., Hoben, J., Kleinman, P. J. A., McGrath, J. M., Miller, R. O., Pearce, A., Shober, A. L., Spargo, J. T., & Volenec, J. J. Minimum dataset and metadata guidelines for soil-test correlation and calibration research. Soil Sci Soc Am J, 2021; 1- 15. doi.org/10.1002/saj2.20338

Pearce, AW, Maguire RO, Pokhrel S. Managing Phosphorus Balance on Virginia Dairy Farms. Virginia Cooperative Extension. 2021.

Pearce, A, Maguire, R. The state of phosphorus balance on 58 Virginia dairy farms. J Environ Qual. 2020; 49: 324-334. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20054

Johns, J., Pearce, A., Robinson, D., and Hansen, N.C. Mar 2015. Applying a phosphorus risk index in a mixed-use mountain watershed. Proceedings of the 2015 Western Nutrient Management Conference 11:117-122.

Presentations

Pearce, A., Pilchak, G., & Coronel, E. (2023) Measuring Biodiversity in the Field to Market Fieldprint Platform [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2023am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/149652

Slaton, N. A., Gatiboni, L., Pearce, A., Osmond, D. L., Bolster, C. H., Clark, J., Ruiz Diaz, D. A., Dhillon, J. S., Farmaha, B. S., Kaiser, D. E., Lyons, S. E., Margenot, A. J., Miguez, F., Moore, A. D., Sotomayor, D., Spackman, J. A., Spargo, J. T., & Yost, M. A. (2023) The Journey to Defining the Critical Soil Test Value for FRST. [Abstract]. ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, St. Louis, MO. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2023am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/152224

Soil Test Correlation and the Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool. Presentation at the 2022 SERA-6 Meeting in Nashville, TN. Jun 06, 2022.

Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST): Soil Test Correlation. Seminar at Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences at NC State University. Feb 2, 2022.

Pearce, A. Relative Yield: The Importance of Definitions and FRST. Presentation at 65th Annual Meeting of the Soil Science Society of North Carolina. Jan 18, 2022.

Pearce, A., Lyons, S. E., Slaton, N. A., Bolster, C. H., Bruulsema, T. W., Grove, J. H., Jones, J. D., McGrath, J. M., Nelson, N. O., Osmond, D. L., Parvej, R., Pena-Yewtukhiw, E. M., & Spargo, J. T. Relative Yield: The Importance of Definitions and FRST. Presentation at ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. Nov 10, 2021. https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2021am/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/133761

Pearce, A, Maguire, R. Nov 2019. Temporal Changes in Phosphorus Balance on Virginia Dairy Farms. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Meetings, San Antonio, TX.

Extension presentation of initial phosphorus balance results on VA dairy farms at nutrient management workshop by VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Montezuma, VA. March 14, 2019.

Pearce, A, Maguire, R, Knowlton K. Moving Virginia Dairy Farms Toward Sustainable Phosphorus Balance. Presentation at ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov 2018.

Extension presentation of soil phosphorus and phosphorus balance on VA dairy farms at nutrient management workshop by VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Montezuma, VA. March 13, 2018.

Extension presentation of phosphorus balance on VA dairy farms at nutrient management workshop by VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Charlottesville, VA. March 5, 2018.

Extension presentation of phosphorus balance on VA dairy farms at nutrient management workshop by VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Rocky Mount, VA. February 26, 2018.

Pearce, A., Johns, J., Hansen, N.C. Oct 2017. Repeated Synoptic Sampling and Phosphorus Fractionation: A Strategy for Sourcing Phosphorus at the Watershed Scale. Presentation at ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Tampa, FL.

Pearce, A., Hansen, N.C., and Johns., J. Nov 2016. Maxent and Soil Phosphorus Predictions In A Mixed-use Montane Watershed. Presentation at ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Phoenix, AZ.

Pearce, A., Johns, J., and Hansen, N.C. Aug 2016. Hunting For Nonpoint Source Phosphorus In A Mixed-use Mountain Watershed with a Synoptic Mass Balance Approach. Plenary Presentation at 22nd National Nonpoint Source Monitoring Workshop, Salt Lake City, UT.

Pearce, A., Johns, J., Jones. J., and Hansen, N.C. Nov 2015. Searching For Phosphorus Sources In A Mixed-use Mountain Watershed. Presentation at ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Minneapolis, MN and Presentation at Graduate Student Conclave, Brigham Young University.

Awards

Recipient of the 2018-2019 Horace E. & Elizabeth Alphin Scholarship. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech.

Third Place Award in Fall 2017 Virginia Tech Library Student ePortfolio Showcase.

Pearce, A., Johns, J., Hansen, N.C. Oct 2017. Repeated Synoptic Sampling and Phosphorus Fractionation: A Strategy for Sourcing Phosphorus at the Watershed Scale. Honorable Mention Award at ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings, Tampa, FL.

Johns, J., Pearce, A., Robinson, D., and Hansen, N.C. Mar 2015. Applying a phosphorus risk index in a mixed-use mountain watershed. Third Place Poster at the 2015 Western Nutrient Management Conference.

Involvements

🌱 American Society of Agronomy - Member (2015-present)

⛰️ Soil Science Society of America - Member (2015-present)

⚾ Coached tee ball and baseball, four seasons for Town of Morrisville, NC.

Voluntary ecclesiastical service in Philippines (2009-2011)

7+ years as church youth instructor (current)

Graduate student representative during the 2018 vision and planning process of the (then) newly formed School of Plant and Environmental Sciences (SPES) at Virginia Tech.

Representative for graduate students of SPES to the Virginia Tech Graduate Student Assembly. 2018-2019 academic year.