Water Management Research : Gary S. Banuelos

Soil Scientist

9611 South Riverbend Avenue Parlier, California 93648-9757 (559) 596-2880 gbanuelos@fresno.ars.usda.gov Gary Bañuelos is a plant/soil scientist at the USDA-ARS, Water Management Research Unit and adjunct professor at UC California and CSU Fresno Universities in California. Dr. Bañuelos began his work with the “green technology” with Professor H. Marschner in Germany, where he tested for radioactive vegetables contaminated from the Chernobyl disaster. Fascinated by the ability of plants to take up contaminates and still survive, Banuelos focused his research activities on the phytoremediation of soils and waters laden with selenium, boron, and salinity in California.
His integrated approach to field phytoremediation involves more than just the selection of crops, but also considers crop rotation, irrigation and drainage management, natural chemical transformations within the soil, production of alternative bio-based products, e.g., biofuel, Se-animal feeds, organic fertilizer/herbicides, and he strives for implementing his plant-based strategy worldwide. Education: Bachelor of Arts in German from California State University Bachelor of Science in Crop Science and Master of Science in International Agriculture from California Poly Technical University German Proficiency Certificates from Goethe Institute and from Middlebury College, Vermont Diploma in Plant Biology from the University of Tubingen, Germany Doctorate in Agriculture/Plant Nutrition at Hohenheim University, Germany, as a National Science Foundation Fellow.