Dr. Cooke is increasing the efficiency of drainage-related best management practices, and developing protocols for their design. He also develops techniques to simplify the extraction of elevation data from a pulsed laser system (LiDAR) images, and creates rainfall harvesting systems to extend cropping into the dry season in Sierra Leone. Research Interests Optimizing Subsurface Drainage System Design - Subsurface drainage systems have almost invariably been designed to maximize crop yield. However, drainage systems can also be used to mitigate the effects of flooding, by increasing the soil water storage volume in areas that are prone to flooding. I propose to develop two routines for the design of subsurface drainage systems, that will maximize soil storage volume without adversely affecting crop yields. The specific objectives of this project are to Develop a routine to evaluate the region of influence of subsurface drainage systems with irregularly spaced laterals, or randomly placed drains; and to develop a routine for multiobjective design of subsurface drainage systems. These routines will facilitate the identification of regions of a field that are in need of addition drainage, and will make it possible to incorporate soil storage and water quality considerations into the design of subsurface drainage systems. Potential users of the routines developed would be private, state and federal agencies responsible for soil and water resources management, such as private farmers, the Soil Conservation Service, and planners in local drainage districts.