A Lethbridge Polytechnic researcher has been named chair of Results-Driven Agriculture Research (R-DAR). Willemijn Appels is the senior research chair of the polytechnic’s Mueller Irrigation Research Group and has been selected as chair of R-DAR. Appels has also received $500,000 from the organization to lead a provincial and national hub for applied irrigation research. Appels is a hydrologist and soil physicist with 20 years of experience in agricultural water management, focusing on water-use efficiency, innovative management strategies and the interaction between water management and agronomic practices. “Because this work is so local and irrigation as a management tool is such a local decision-making process, it’s really handy and good to be in the centre of it where things actually happen,” Appels said. “So that you have a good on-the-ground feel for what issues there are and what solutions are possible.” R-DAR is a leading funder of agricultural research in Alberta.
