Emerging Soil Scientist Cultivates Future in Cotton Sustainability

By Kay Ledbetter

Chris Cobos is researching the resiliency of cropping systems from a 200-foot view, literally. Whether using drones and artificial intelligence to gather data or taking measurements in the field, the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences doctoral student is advancing research to help farmers conserve water across cotton fields of the South Plains.

Cobos, a student within the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, didn’t plan a career in the soil sciences. In fact, his higher education journey began in wildlife biology and human biomedical research before he discovered his passion and future, which were deeply rooted in dryland and deficit-irrigated production systems.

In 2021, he started his doctorate at Texas A&M University under Katie Lewis, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research soil scientist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and at Texas Tech University, Lubbock.

He is now an AgriLife Research senior research associate in Lewis’ program at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Lubbock and will graduate in December.