Rate My Professor Shyam Nair

Shyam Nair is an Associate Professor of Agribusiness and Assistant Chair of the School of Agricultural Sciences at Sam Houston State University, where he has served since 2014. Holding a PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Texas Tech University, an MS in Agronomy and BSc in Agriculture from Kerala Agricultural University in India, Nair brings extensive international experience to his role. Raised on a family farm in India, he worked as an agricultural officer at a major bank and contributed to post-tsunami recovery efforts for farmers before pursuing advanced studies in the United States. During his postdoctoral position at Texas Tech, he discovered his passion for teaching.

Nair has earned numerous accolades for his excellence in teaching and research, including the USDA National Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching in Food and Agricultural Sciences in 2022, which includes a $5,000 stipend; the NACTA Teaching Award of Merit in 2016 and Educator Award in 2017; Sam Houston State University’s Faculty Excellence in Research Award in 2019 and Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award in 2021. He has secured grants exceeding $2.5 million focused on education, recruitment, mentoring, and undergraduate research, providing opportunities to over 300 students. His research interests encompass agribusiness and agricultural economics, with key publications such as “Application of DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model to simulate winter wheat response to irrigation management in the Texas High Plains” (Agricultural Water Management, 2016), “Modeling cotton lint yield and water use efficiency responses to irrigation scheduling using Cotton2K” (Agronomy Journal, 2016), and “Predicting carbon and water vapor fluxes using machine learning and novel feature ranking algorithms” (Science of the Total Environment, 2021). Nair has developed hands-on learning initiatives, including cover crop experiments at SHSU’s Gibbs Ranch funded by a USDA Capacity Building Grant. As a Fellow of the Texas Academic Leadership Academy, former Chair of the NACTA Educator Recognition Committee (2019-2021), and coordinator of Texas FFA Farm Business Management events, he actively contributes to agricultural education and student development through advising organizations like MANRRS and Alpha Gamma Rho.