About me

Ikenna Onyekwelu is an Agrohydrological Modeler at the Kansas Geological Survey. His work focuses on advancing water resources management through data-driven and process-based modeling of agricultural landscapes. His current research examines agricultural water use practices in irrigated landscapes using remotely sensed Earth observation data and climate information to support farm and water management decision-making.

He previously served as an Assistant Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resource Management at Schreiner University in Texas, where he developed undergraduate teaching in agroecosystem and irrigation water management, agricultural climatology, soil science, and fundamentals of natural resource management. Prior to joining Schreiner University, Ikenna served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Kansas State University, where he led the development of process-based soil temperature and moisture modeling frameworks for simulating coupled landscape soil heat conditions under sprayable biodegradable mulch for water management and crop yield improvement. His general research expertise centers around agricultural water management, watershed modeling and management, application of spatial tools and statistical methods in agriculture, crop growth model development and improvement, and cropping system adaptation under climate change. His previous research examined the water-climate-food nexus and the techniques for adapting point-scale crop models for regional simulation of crop production systems under climate change impacts and climate variability. Drawn by his passion for natural resources and cropping system improvement, he understood that doubling food production through sustainable adaptation and improved agronomic practices are crucial to mitigate the production shortages that will be imposed by the individual rates of climate change and population growth in the next decades. Ikenna received his Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from Kansas State University. 

Ikenna grew up in eastern Nigeria where he observed the drudgery and production losses faced by local farmers. Motivated by these experiences, he pursued a bachelor's degree in Agricultural and Bioresources Engineering at the University of Nigeria, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2015. His undergraduate research aptitude would later launch him into academia as a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, where he specialized in Soil and Water Resources Engineering, teaching courses such as Environmental Hydrology, Integrated Water Resources Management, Principles of Irrigation, Soil Mechanics, and Soil-Machine Interaction. Ikenna obtained his Master’s degree in Environmental Geology and Contamination in 2019 from the University of Portsmouth, England. Prior to beginning his master's program at the University of Portsmouth, he was a visiting professional at the University of Valladolid, Spain, under the ERASMUS+ Credit Mobility program, funded by the European Union (EU).

Ikenna has published several research papers in prestigious journals and has presented his research findings at over 30 national and international conferences. He has also received over 30 research awards, travel scholarships, and research recognitions, including the 2026 Kansas State Univiersity Nominee for the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award, 2025 Graduate Student of the Year Award, 2024 Corteva New Frontiers Scholar Award, 2024 Corteva DELTA Award, Irrigation Association E3 Scholarship, and placing 2nd in the prestigious ASABE Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award (2024, PhD Category). Ikenna is a Commonwealth Scholar under the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office (FCDO). He has also been actively involved in teaching and mentoring undergraduate students in Nigeria and the United States. As part of his professional service, he takes pleasure in reviewing manuscripts for journals such as Agricultural Water Management, European Journal of Agronomy, Agricultural Systems, Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Agronomy Journal, Nigerian Journal of Technology, Journal of the ASABE, and Earth Sciences.

Outside of his professional engagements, Ikenna enjoys a good time with his family, playing table tennis, and volunteering for his local community. Ikenna aspires to continue his career at the intersection of academic research and industry collaborations, using his wealth of experience to improve natural resources, agricultural water use under climate uncertainity and variability, and coupling mechanistic agroecosystem models with artificial intelligence and Earth observation data for improved and sustainable agricultural systems.