Phillip Barak

Phillip Barak, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Soil Science, focuses on nutrient recovery from wastewater and soil chemistry. He served as Director of Information Technology and Computing (2012-2017) and has held multiple leadership roles in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. With a PhD in Soil Science from Hebrew University (1988), he is a licensed Professional Soil Scientist in Wisconsin.

Research Interests span nutrient recovery (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium) using electrodialysis and struvite crystallization, soil chemistry of plant nutrients, and scientific visualization. His applied work with the Nutrient Recovery & Upcycling, LLC and WARF commercializes phosphorus recycling technologies.

• Patents: US Patent 7,182,872 (struvite), US Patent 10,125,428 (electrodialysis)
• Scientific Awards: EDUCAUSE Medal (1999), Scientific American Web Award (2003) for the Virtual Museum of Minerals and Molecules

Key Contributions include developing oxygen-18 phosphate tracing methods, advancing soil inorganic carbon understanding in turfgrass systems, and creating open-source data smoothing tools (ADPF R package). He has advised 19 graduate students and integrated VRML-based 3D soil modeling into education and research.