J. Alex Thomasson

J. Alex Thomasson is a Professor, Department Head, and William B. and Sherry Berry Endowed Chair in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State University. With expertise in precision agriculture, remote sensing, and agricultural robotics, he focuses on cotton production, drone-based monitoring, and sensor development for soil and fiber quality analysis.

• Education: Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, and Texas Tech University
• Experience: Department Head at Mississippi State University (2020–Present), Endowed Chair at Texas A&M University (2005–2020), USDA Agricultural Research Service (1989–1997)

His research spans optical sensing technologies, cotton fiber quality mapping, and UAV applications in crop phenotyping and disease detection. Recent work includes:

• Autonomous grain cart navigation using motion planning algorithms
• UAV thermal calibration via temperature-controlled references
• Adsorbent-SERS systems for plant volatile organic compound analysis

Publications highlight advancements in:

• Drone-based cotton root rot classification
• Multi-scale frictional property analysis of cotton fibers
• Wavelet spectroscopy for soil and biomass characterization