Dr. Jane Frankenberger

Biography

Jane Frankenberger is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University. She earned her B.A. in Physics from St. Olaf College, her M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and her Ph.D. in Agricultural Biological Engineering from Cornell University. Since joining the ABE Department in 1996, she has gained extensive experience, including eight years of work in Africa, specifically in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal. From 2002 to 2003, she worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C., focusing on Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and the role of land-grant universities in extension research concerning the TMDL process. Jane currently coordinates the Purdue Extension Water Quality program, leading various water quality projects in Indiana, where she collaborates with communities and public water supply systems to develop strategies for source water protection and manage drinking water quality. Her research primarily focuses on watershed management, TMDLs for agricultural watersheds, and the impacts of subsurface drainage tiles on nitrate flux. In addition to her research, she teaches a graduate-level course on spatial analysis titled 'Geographic Information Systems Applications.'

Research Interests