Dennis C. Flanagan, Ph.D.

Dr. Dennis C. Flanagan is an Agricultural Engineer and Lead Research Scientist at the USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, located on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  He is also an adjunct Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, at PurdueUniversity.  Dennis received his B.S. degree from The Ohio State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue.

Current Work

• Dr. Flanagan is the Leader of the Erosion Prediction CRIS project at the NSERL, and the Leader of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP). He has been involved in WEPP model development efforts since 1988. From 1989-1995 he was Hillslope Model Leader, which involved development, verification, and testing of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) hillslope profile erosion model computer code. He has also worked on development of WEPP interfaces (both ARS and NRCS [formerly SCS]), and creation of several updated versions of WEPP.  He was named WEPP Project Leader in April 1999.  His current work involves development of a combined water and wind erosion prediction system (utilizing components from WEPP and WEPS) for field NRCS soil conservation planning.
• Dennis has conducted both field and laboratory studies, and performed laboratory studies of rill detachment and deposition as affected by inflow of sediment, flow depth, and rainfall intensity interactions.
• Other recent work has examined the effectiveness of soil amendments at protecting steep slopes during the critical period of permanent vegetation experiment. Natural rainfall and simulated rainfall field experiments have shown that use of Polyacrylamide (PAM) with or without gypsum can significantly reduce runoff and soil loss, and enhance grass establishment.  Here is a link to a recent presentation on use of soil amendments to enhance infiltration and reduce runoff and soil loss.
• Dr. Flanagan was Chairman of the Soil Erosion for the 21st Century Symposium, sponsored by ASAE and held January 3-5, 2001 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Over 200 participants from 30 countries attended the meeting. He is now currently assisting ASABE as a member of the Organizing Committee for a new soil erosion symposium, tentatively scheduled to be held in Anchorage, Alaska in September 2011.
• Dennis Flanagan and Jane Frankenberger nominated the USLE development for an ASAEHistoric Landmark of Agricultural Engineering, which was dedicated at Purdue on April 25, 2002.  Here is the link to the dedication booklet (and the ABE version in PDF format).  Here are some pictures from the dedication ceremony.

NSERL and Purdue Office: Building SOIL, Room 107

Phone: (765) 494-7748

Fax: (765) 494-5948

Email: Dennis.Flanagan@ars.usda.gov

Mailing Address: