BIO: Dr. Thelen’s research program is focused on applied issues pertinent to the North Central Corn-Belt. As a cropping systems agronomist, Dr. Thelen has conducted research on a wide range of crop production aspects including: bio-energy crop production, utility and assessment of marginal lands for biofuel crop production; management, landscape and soil affects on biofuel crop quality; development of an NIR calibration equation for quantifying ethanol yield from corn grain; carbon cycling in complete biomass removal cropping systems; integrating canola into Michigan cropping systems; tillage systems, weed control, rotational aspects, in-field plant arrangement, soil variability affects on yield, environmental aspects, and precision agriculture. http://www.msu.edu/~thelenk3/