Behnaz Molaei, Ph.D.

Behnaz Molaei

Behnaz Molaei, Ph.D.
 Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Irrigation Engineering 听
 Department of Agricultural听Sciences and Engineering 听
 College of Agriculture 听

Office:
 214F Farrell-Westbrook Agricultural Complex 听
 3500 John A Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209 听

 贰-尘补颈濒:鈥� bmolaei@tnstate.edu 鈥� 听
 Office Phone: (615) 963-2171 听

Google Scholar:听 听
 Twitter:听
LinkedIn: 听 听

Education听and听Experience:听 听
 Ph.D. (2022) Biological听and Agricultural听Engineering, Washington State University, USA 听
 M.Sc. (2013)鈥� Agricultural Engineering (Irrigation & Drainage Systems), 听 Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran 听 听
 B.Sc. (2009)听 Water Engineering,听Shahrekord听University,听Shahrekord, Iran 听 听鈥� 听

Research听Area: 听
 Mapping Evapotranspiration with Energy Balance Modeling (UAV, and Satellite)
Efficiency of Irrigation Systems 听
 Irrigation Scheduling听 听
 Automation and Precision Irrigation 听
 Smart Irrigation Scheduling for Agricultural Water Management 听
 Crop听Sensing听(ground/aerial system) for听Precision听Irrigation Management鈥� 听
 AI and Remote sensing for Automated Irrigation System

Academic听Teaching:听 听
 AGSC 5830听听听Precision Agriculture, Graduate Level听(Fall 2025) 听

Extension听Training:听 听
 Drip Irrigation Systems 听
 Sprinkler Irrigation Systems 听
 Sensors for Precision Irrigation Management听 听

Awarded听Grants:听 听
 Lead PI, Funding Agency: USDA-NIFA-AFRI, Program Area Priority Name: Engineering for Precision Crop and Water Management, Partners and Sub-awardees:听University of Georgia, USDA-ARS PA CPRL Conservation & Production Research Laboratory, Title: PARTNERSHIP: Improving Crop Water Use Estimation with UAS-Based Models and Controlled Automated Temperature Reference Surfaces,听Award Amount: $727,944, Award Number: 2024-67022-43792, Project Duration: 2024-2028 听

Lead PI,听Funding Agency: USDA-NIFA-CBG,听Sub awardee: University of Tennessee, Collaborators: USDA-ARS,听Title of Project:听Capacity Building of Irrigation Systems Engineering and Precision Water Management for Sustainable Agriculture at Tennessee,听Award Amount:听$599,842.00,听Award Number:听2025-38821-45498,听Project Duration:听2026-2030 听

Co-PI,听Funding Agency: USDA-NIFA-CBG,听Title:听Advancing Climate-Smart Agriculture through Nitrogen and Water Management in Cover Crop- Based No-till Crop Production Systems, Award Amount: $499,998,听Award Number:听2024-38821-42058, Project Duration 2024-2027 听

Co-PI,听Funding Agency: USDA-NIFA-CBG,听Title:听Sustainable Production Practices for Field-grown Nursery Crops,听Award Amount:听$598,950,听Award Number:听2025-38821-45499, Project Duration 2026-2029 听

Peer-Reviewed Journal Article: 听
 Molaei, B., A.K. Chandel, R.T. Peters, L.R. Khot, A. Khan, F.听Maureira, C.O.听St枚ckle. 2023. Investigating Practical听Artificial Hot and Cold Reference Surfaces for Improved ET Estimation Using the UAS-METRIC Energy Balance Model. Agricultural Water Management. 284(30), 108346 . 听 听

Molaei, B., R.T. Peters, L.R. Khot, C.O.听St枚ckle. 2022.听 Assessing Suitability of Auto-Selection of Hot and Cold Anchor Pixels of the UAS-METRIC Model for Developing Crop Water Use Maps,听 Remote Sensing Journal, Remote Sensing-Based Evapotranspiration Models. 14(18), 4454 .听 听

Mohamed, A. Z., Peters, R. T., Sarwar, A., Molaei, B., and McMoran, D. 2021. Impact of the Intermittency Movement of Center Pivots on Irrigation Uniformity. Water, 13(9), 1167;听听 听

Molaei, B., A. Chandel, R.T. Peters, L.R. Khot, and J.Q. Vargas.听听2022. Investigating听Lodging in Spearmint with Overhead Sprinklers Compared to Drag Hoses Using the Texture Feature from Low Altitude RGB Imagery.听听Information Processing in Agriculture. 9(2): 335鈥�341听 听

Chandel, A.K., L.R. Khot, B. Molaei, R.T. Peters, C.O.听St枚ckle, P. W. Jacoby. 2021. High-Resolution Spatiotemporal Water Use Mapping of Surface and Direct-Root-Zone Drip-Irrigated Grapevines Using UAS-Based Thermal and Multispectral Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing. 13(5), 954.听 听

Molaei, B., R.T. Peters, Mohamed, A.Z., Sarwar, A. 2021. Large Scale Evaluation of a LEPA/LESA system compared with MESA on Spearmint and Peppermint. Industrial Crops & Products. 159: 113048.听 听

Chandel, A.K., B. Molaei, L.R. Khot, R.T. Peters, C.O.听St枚ckle. 2020. High-Resolution Geospatial Evapotranspiration Mapping of Irrigated Field Crops Using Multispectral and Thermal Infrared Imagery with METRIC Energy Balance Model. Drones. 4(52);听 听

Vargas, J. Q., L.R. Khot, R.T. Peters, A.K.听Chandel听and B. Molaei. 2019. Low Orbiting Satellite and Small UAS based High-Resolution Imagery Data to Quantify Crop Lodging: A Case Study in Irrigated Mint Crop. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. p. 1鈥�5.听 10.1109/LGRS.2019.2935830 听

Honors and Awards:听 听
 National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA), Communication award, Computer generated presentation,听Southern听Regional Finalist, 2024 听

Tennessee Association of Agricultural Agents and Specialists (TAAA&S) Communication award, Computer generated presentation,听1st place, 2024 听

American Society of听Agricultural and听Biological听Engineers (ASABE),听 Best oral presentation within Machinery Systems Technical Community at ASABE Annual International Meeting in Houston, Texas,听 ,听 2022 听

College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences听(CAHNRS)听at听Washington State University,听Graduate Student Leadership Award,听 ,听 2022 听

Graduate School at Washington State University, The Karen DePauw Leadership Award, awarded by two different organizations: the Association for Faculty Women (AFW),听 , 2022 听

Graduate and Professional Students Association听(GPSA) at听Washington State University, College Representative of the Year,听 , 听 2022 听

Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University, Outstanding Graduate Student,听Arnie & Marta Kegel Fellowship, 2022 听

Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Washington State University, Outstanding Graduate Student,听Walter听and Vinnie Hinz Endowed Scholarship, 2022 听

Irrigation E3 Program Travel Award听of听Irrigation Show and Education Week, IA-ASABE 6th Decennial National Irrigation Symposium, San Diego, California, December 6-10, 2021,听 , 2021 听

Digital Agathon at听Washington听State听University听organized by Microsoft and Washington State University, Honorable Mention Group (Smart听CougChard),听2020 听

Date joined staff: 鈥� May 2023 听