Contact Information:
457 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building University Park, PA 16802- Phone: 814-865-1143
- Fax: 814-863-7043
- E-mail: ddf@psu.edu
Appointment:
- 85% Teaching
- 15% Research
Courses Taught:
- Soils 190 - Professional Development in Environmental Soil Science
- Soils 401 - Soil Composition and Physical Properties
- Soils 490 - Colloquium
- Soils 507 - Soil Physics
Links:
Daniel D. Fritton
Professor Emeritus of Soil Physics
Responsibilities and Interests:
I am interested in the improvement of student learning and have experimented with numerous teaching techniques. I am especially interested in improving the problem solving and critical thinking skills of students.
I am generally interested in how soil physical properties and processes influence man's use of soil. I am more specifically interested in corn root growth and on-site effluent disposal systems as two specific uses of soil. I usually approach any of these problems using either mathematical or computer simulation procedures as a framework.
Currently, I am involved in nitrate leaching and soil compaction projects from the soil physics perspective.
Other areas of expertise include the following:
- computer-assisted presentations
- use of instructional objectives in soils teaching
- encouraging active involvement of students
- soil heat flow and temperature
- soil property modification
- pollutant movement and interaction with soil, and
- soil physical property measurement
Education:
- B.S., Soil Science, Colorado State University, 1964
- M.S., Soil Physics and Agricultural Climatology, Iowa State University, 1966
- Ph.D., Soil Physics and Agricultural Climatology, Iowa State University, 1968
Professional Background:
- Assistant Professor, Cornell University, 1968 - 1971
- Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, 1971 - 1976
- Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, 1976 - 1981
- Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, 1981 - 2008
- Professor Emeritus, The Pennsylvania State University, 2008 - present
Selected Publications:
- An Improved Empirical Equation for Uniaxial Soil Compression for a Wide Range of Applied Stresses. 2001. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65: 678-684. Abstract.
- Jabro, J.D., J.D. Toth, Z. Dou, R.H. Fox, and D.D. Fritton. 1995. Evaluation of nitrogen version of LEACHM for predicting nitrate leaching. Soil Science 160:209-217. Abstract
- Fritton, D.D., J.D. Jabro, D.P. Knievel, and G.W. McKee. 1992. Weather and maize data for plant growth modeling: 1978. Agronomy Series No. 123. Penn State University, University Park, PA. 81 pp.
- Brown, J.L., D.E. Hall, K.V. Iversen, and D.D. Fritton. 1994. Under my feet: An exploration of soil: Activities and projects. The Pennsylvania State University, The Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, University Park, PA. 36 pp.
- Fritton, D.D. 1990. A standard for interpreting soil penetrometer measurements. Soil Science 150:542-551. Abstract
- Daniels, M.B. and D.D. Fritton. 1994. Groundwater mounding below a surface line source in a typic fragiudalf. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58:77-85. Abstract
- Campbell, C.M. and D.D. Fritton. 1994. Factors affecting field-saturated hydraulic conductivity measured by the borehole permeameter technique. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 58:1354-1357. Abstract