Emerging Soil Scientist Cultivates Future in Cotton Sustainability

Oct 27, 2025

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.

Source : tamu.edu

Video: Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard

On Friday, April 24, 2026, from 12 noon–1:00 ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), presented this webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series, a course designed to develop subject matter literacy and competence on fundamental issues of agricultural law for attorneys and business advisors who work with or represent agricultural or rural clients but may not necessarily specialize in agricultural law:

“Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard”

The Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or advanced biofuels. Established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and later expanded by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS is implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This webinar provides an overview of the legal authority and structure for the RFS program and explain how it works, including the program’s system of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and categories of renewable fuels. Additionally, this webinar addresses EPA annual volume requirement rulemaking and associated recent legal issues.