Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Doland
B.S. Agricultural Engineering ,
M.S. Agricultural Engineering ,
Dale Bucks earned a Ph.D. in soil and water science from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1979 in addition to the degrees he earned form South Dakota State University. He was the lead water quality and water management scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Washington, DC. He also represented the USDA on several subcommittees for the Committee on Environmental and Natural Resource Research of the National Science and Technology Council and served on the board of directors for the U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. Bucks research career included 18 years at the U.S. Water Conversation Laboratory with emphasis on improving micro-basin and level-basin irrigation systems, determining crop water requirements, evaluating irrigation scheduling technologies and developing alternative crops for desert climates. Bucks authored or co-authored over 150 publications and papers. He earned many honors including: Agriculture Engineer of the Year for the Pacific Region of the American Society of Agriculture Engineers in 1984: Certificate of Merit for Establishing and Technically Supporting the National Guayule Program from the USDA in 1985; and Certificate of Merit for developing and strengthening natural resource research programs for USDA in 1992, 1994 and 1995. He was a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.