Dr. Theo A. Dillaha

Program Director for SANREM CRSP

Phone: (540) 231-6813
E-mail: dillaha@vt.edu

Languages: Englishh

Experience Summary: Dr. Dillaha is an educator and researcher with more than 25 years of university, international, and consulting experience in systems-based approaches to agriculture and natural resources management and conservation. He has been the Principal Investigator or Co-PI on 100 projects worth more than $18.2 million. Dr. Dillaha's systems approach to natural resources problem solving and his strong background in agriculture, engineering, and environmental science make him effective in leading interdisciplinary teams. His international work focuses on appropriate technology solutions that are sustainable given locally available resources. He has been involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable agricultural and natural resource management-related projects in Morocco, Micronesia, Japan, the Soviet Union, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Mauritius, Kazakhstan, and the United States.

Prior to assuming the SANREM CRSP Project Director role, Dr. Dillaha was a Professor of Biological Systems Engineering and the Director of the Water Quality Laboratory at Virginia Tech where he taught and conducted research in watershed assessment and management, non-point source pollution control, best management practice assessment, green engineering, and water supply and sanitation in developing countries. In all of his activities, he stresses the interconnectedness between biophysical, economic, social and policy factors, and the need to identify holistic solutions to sustainable agriculture and natural resource management problems. He has supervised 19 graduate student theses and dissertations and is an expert in curriculum development and assessment. He has published 31 refereed publications, hundreds of other papers and technical reports and book chapters. He has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences, has served on the Fulbright Africa Scholars Review Panel, and was a member of the National Research Council Committee on Riparian Zones.

Dr. Dillaha has lived and worked in Guam (Mariana Islands and Micronesia), Mauritius and Morocco where he worked on water supply, sanitation, and natural resources management problems. While employed at Virginia Tech, Dr. Dillaha spent a year in Mauritius as a Fulbright Fellow helping the University of Mauritius develop an environmental science curriculum and addressing agriculturally related water quality problems impacting the tourist industry. He has also undertaken short-term assignments on USAID-funded projects through ACDI-VOCA in Albania, investigating pesticide and hazardous waste contamination problems, and in Kazakhstan, addressing the rehabilitation of irrigation and potable water systems. Dr. Dillaha is a registered professional engineer and obtained his BE and MS degrees from Vanderbilt University in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from Purdue University, where he specialized in agricultural pollution control, hydrology, and soil conservation.

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