Rate My Professor Jon Schoonover

Jon Schoonover is Professor of Physical Hydrology and Soils in the Department of Forestry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he holds a 45/50/5 teaching/research/service appointment since July 2015. He earned his Ph.D. in Forest Hydrology from Auburn University in 2005, with a dissertation on hydrology, water quality, and channel morphology across an urban-rural gradient in the Georgia Piedmont. Prior degrees include an M.S. in Forestry from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2001, focusing on native riparian vegetation impacts on agricultural water quality in the Cache River watershed; a B.S. in Forestry from the same institution in 1999, graduating summa cum laude; and an A.S. in General Science from Kaskaskia College in 1997. Schoonover also serves as Adjunct Faculty in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University since January 2006. He teaches courses such as Tree Identification (FOR 202), Urban Ecosystem Management (FOR 415), Watershed Management Field Laboratory (FOR 429), Forest Soils (FOR 452), and Forest Soils Laboratory (FOR 452L).

His research centers on impacts of land use on water quality, hydrology, soils, and channel morphometry; designing and testing Best Management Practices for row crop agriculture; fecal coliform contamination across land uses; water resource stress at urban-rural interfaces; biogeochemistry of floodplain forests; and riparian zone management in agricultural systems. Key publications include 'An introduction to soil concepts and the role of soils in watershed management' (Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 2015, 488 citations); 'Land cover impacts on stream nutrients and fecal coliform in the lower Piedmont of West Georgia' (Journal of Hydrology, 2006, 196 citations); 'Nutrient attenuation in agricultural surface runoff by riparian buffer zones in southern Illinois, USA' (Agroforestry Systems, 2005, 183 citations); and 'Cover crops and landscape positions impact infiltration and anion leaching in corn-soybean rotation' (Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, 2020). Schoonover has secured over $12.5 million in grants, including projects on saturated buffers, gypsum applications, and water and sediment control basins funded by the Nutrient Research and Education Council. Awards include the 2014 Teaching Award of Merit from North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, 2014 College Teaching Excellence Award from SIU College of Agricultural Sciences, and 2010 Donald M. Elkins Excellence in Teaching Award.