Dr. Robert E. DeOtte Jr., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering Office: Killgore Research Center, Room 109
Email: rdeotte@wtamu.edu
Phone: 806-651-8780
Home Page: http://homedirs.wtamu.edu/~rdeotte/ Professional Profile DeOtte joined the faculty of the Department of Agricultural Sciences in January 2005, and has been actively involved in the graduate program since. He earned his B.S. in civil engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.S. in civil engineering with a concentration on hydraulics from Colorado State University, and his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University where he specialized in aerosol and fluid dynamics. Before coming to WTAMU, DeOtte directed the hydrology program at Tarleton State University, and prior to that, was a research engineer with the Texas Engineering Experiment Station in College Station. Teaching and Related Service DeOtte teaches systems agriculture I and II, two of the core courses for WTAMU's only Ph,D, program. He also teaches courses in agrosecurity and agricultural disaster preparedness, modeling, hydrology and water resources in agriculture, and the graduate seminar for M.S. students in agriculture.
He is the coordinator of the graduate program in agricultural sciences and director of the Ph.D. program.
Research and Creative Activity Upon arriving at West Texas A&M University, DeOtte applied his knowledge of biological aerosols and detection of terrorist assaults to livestock agriculture. He heads the Panhandle Agrosecurity Working Group and collaborates with researchers at national defense laboratories and Department of Homeland Security Centers of Excellence. In the past few years he has applied his engineering background to such diverse topics as: • agrosecurity and agricultural disaster preparedness; • disposal of ash from combustion of beef cattle manure, done in collaboration with Texas AgriLife Research in Amarillo; and • conservation of water by beef packers in collaboration with Dr. Ty Lawrence. Personal Sketch DeOtte enjoys reading nonfiction including history and books related to development of science and engineering. He and his wife Dona have two grown children—one an attorney who is married with a child, and the other an M.S. student in environmental engineering. In their spare time they are remodeling their current residence outside of Canyon. DeOtte is a licensed soccer coach and enjoys coaching the youth baseball and soccer. He finds that teaching and mentoring graduate students is much like coaching—in both venues the objective is to help others develop the best that is in them. | 
