The Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture welcomes Dr. Moriah Bilenky, Assistant Professor.
Bilenky’s research program is centered on three broad questions 1) can low-input agriculture systems be sustainable; 2) can they reduce off farm inputs; and 3) can they help build resilient food systems? Bilenky aims to explore cropping systems that employ cover cropping, reduced tillage, crop-animal integration, and other novel approaches to these questions.
For the past year and a half, Bilenky has been managing an OREI project investigating effects of reduced tillage in organic grain production at Penn State University. She earned her AS studying Agronomy at Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. She earned her BS and Ph.D. in Horticulture at Iowa State University. During her Ph.D. she managed a multidisciplinary project including faculty in food science, soil science, animal science, and economics exploring animal crop integration for organic vegetable growers. Before starting her Ph.D. she assisted in the management of a 14-acre, diversified vegetable farm and started her own small vegetable operation. Bilenky is excited to be sharing her real-world experiences in small-scale vegetable production when she teaches the small farms experience courses offered through the SFS program. Bilenky believes we cannot meet the world’s agricultural challenges working only within our own disciplinary bubble and strives to collaborate with faculty and staff across disciplines within the College of Agriculture and the University.
Contact Information:
Office: HORT 334
Lab: HORT 331
Phone: 765-496-0368
Email: mbilenky@purdue.edu