Rate My Professor Ryan Stewart

Ryan D. Stewart is a Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Programs in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech. He joined the faculty in December 2013 as an Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor in August 2020, and was subsequently promoted to Professor. Prior to his tenure at Virginia Tech, Stewart served as a Peace Corps volunteer focusing on basic sanitation in Huacareta, Bolivia. His academic background includes a Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering with a minor in Soil Science from Oregon State University in 2013, an M.S. in Water Resources Engineering from Oregon State University in 2010, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2002.

Stewart's research centers on quantifying interactions between water, soil, and plant communities through field investigations, laboratory analyses, and modeling approaches. His specializations encompass soil health assessment via physical, chemical, and biological properties; impacts of agricultural practices on soil characteristics and biogeochemical cycling; hydrological processes in macroporous and structured soils; solute transport including pesticides and nutrients; development of novel environmental monitoring instrumentation; and effects of wildfires on soil properties and watershed hydrology. Leading the Critical Zone Research Lab, he promotes interdisciplinary efforts spanning soil science, ecology, engineering, agriculture, and urban systems. Stewart has earned accolades such as the 2016 Editors’ Citation for Excellence in Refereeing from Reviews of Geophysics, Virginia Tech Scholar of the Week in March 2016, Wade Rain Irrigation Scholarship in 2013, Ralph M. Lunde Memorial Award in 2011, and Myron G. Cropsey Award in 2010. Key publications include "What We Talk about When We Talk about Soil Health" (Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 2018), "A comprehensive model for single ring infiltration: 2. Estimating field-saturated hydraulic conductivity" (Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2018), "An Improved Method for Quantifying Soil Aggregate Stability" (Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2019), and "Plants mediate precipitation-driven transport of a neonicotinoid pesticide" (Chemosphere, 2019). His scholarship has garnered over 3,200 citations, influencing advancements in soil physics and hydrology.